Jeffrey DeMarco

Jeffrey DeMarco is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Middlesex University within the Faculty of Science and Technology. As a chartered forensic psychologist and senior policy professional, he bridges academic research with high-impact operational work for entities including the European Commission and UNICEF across global contexts from conflict zones to digital safety initiatives.

His research centers on three critical domains: online harms (particularly child sexual abuse exploitation), radicalisation prevention/intervention, and psychological first aid/trauma support systems. This manifests in projects investigating digital safety for youth in MENA/eastern Africa, well-being 'hubs' for conflict-affected families, and psychopathology assessments of adolescent victims/offenders. His work consistently examines the psychology-technology interface through both policy development and empirical research.

Analysis of his 2023-2025 publications reveals a dominant focus on content moderator mental health, with 8 of 15 recent articles addressing coping strategies, secondary trauma, and well-being frameworks. This cluster demonstrates rigorous methodological diversity (qualitative, cross-sectional, VR interventions) while maintaining thematic coherence around digital labor risks and protective systems for 'digital key workers'.

He currently supervises PhD candidate Zoe Davenport (enrolled January 2024) and leads the 'Invisible risks: Combating secondary trauma to safeguard children' project, which extends his research into trauma mitigation within child protection systems. His teaching includes the advanced module PSY4223 Trauma Impacts and Interventions, directly integrating his operational expertise into academic curriculum.