Nicky Wright

Dr. Nicky Wright is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University, within the School of Psychology. She holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Liverpool and has extensive postdoctoral experience in biostatistics and longitudinal research. Her work focuses on understanding mechanisms underlying childhood and adolescent mental health problems, particularly the intergenerational transmission of mental health risks through relationships like parent-child, peer, and romantic interactions. She co-leads the adolescent data collection for the Wirral Child Health & Development Study (WCHADS) and collaborates on international cohorts such as the Bangalore Child Health and Development Study and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).

Education: BSc (1st Class) in Psychology (University of Chester), MSc in Research Methods in Psychology (Distinction, University of Liverpool), PhD in Clinical Psychology (University of Liverpool).

Research interests include advanced statistical methods, longitudinal study design, and the cultural specificity of mental health mechanisms. She investigates risk and protective factors for behavioral, emotional, and personality disorders in typically developing and autistic populations. Current projects include studying the impact of breastfeeding difficulties on maternal mental health, pandemic effects on adolescent mental health, and the use of AI and wearable technology to assess parent-child interactions.

Dr. Wright teaches undergraduate psychology courses at MMU and supervises MSc and PhD students. She has secured grants from the British Academy and other funding bodies, including studies on inter-partner violence risk markers and longitudinal mental health trajectories. Her work emphasizes translational research, bridging statistical rigor with clinical applications to address global mental health challenges.