Professor Gordon Harold

Degrees and Honours

Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Science, Bachelor of Science

Membership of Professional Bodies/Associations

• Honorary Professor, Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neuroscience, Cardiff University.
• Honorary Professor, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex.
• Member, Expert Advisory Group (EAG), UKRI-ESRC2019+: Member, UKRI Digital Health Expert Group
• Member, Expert Advisory Panel, Academy of Finland
• Member, Methods Advisory Group (MAG), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), UK Government.
• Member and Panel Chair, UKRI Future Leader Fellowship Programme2016+: Member, UKRI-ESRC Strategic Advisory Network
• Member, Advisory Board, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
• Member, Together for Children and Young People (T4CYP) Expert Reference Group (Welsh Assembly Government and CAMHS multi- agency Programme Board to promote the development and implementation of service improvement plans)
• Member, Research Sub-Committee, Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI)
• Advisor, Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cymru), Welsh Government

Profile

Gordon is the inaugural Professor of the Psychology of Education and Mental Health at the University of Cambridge, having previously held appointments as the Andrew and Virginia Rudd Chair and Professor of Psychology at the University of Sussex, the Alexander McMillan Chair and Professor of Childhood Studies at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at Cardiff University. His primary research interests focus on:

• examining the role of family relationship dynamics as a factor underlying differences in child and adolescent mental health outcomes and future life chances,
• understanding the interplay between genetic factors and family relationship factors and young people's mental health and development,
• promoting the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based practice and policy guidelines aimed at enhancing mental health outcomes for young people.

Gordon is a member of UKRI-ESRC’s Data and Infrastructure, Skills and Methods Expert Advisory Group (EAG), a member of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Methods Advisory Group (MAG) and a member of the recently established Family Policy Cross-Government Advisory Group, he is also an advisor to multiple other UK and international government departments and scientific committees.  

Publications

Clarke, T., McLellan, R., Harold, G.T. (2023, in press). Adolescents’ wellbeing at school: correlates of academic attainment beyond life satisfaction. School Psychology Review.

Sellers, R., Riglin, L., Harold, G. T., & Thapar, A. (2022). Using genetic designs to identify likely causal environmental contributions to psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 34(5), 1653-1665. doi:10.1017/S0954579422000906

Leve, L. D., Anderson, D., Harold, G. T., Neiderhiser, J. M., Natsuaki, M. N., Shaw, D. S., . . . Reiss, D. (2022). Developmental profiles of child behavior problems from 18 months to 8 years: The protective effects of structured parenting vary by genetic risk. Development and Psychopathology, 34(5), 1716-1730. doi:10.1017/S0954579422000839.

Richards, A. L., Cardno, A., Harold, G. T., Craddock, N. J., Di Florio, A., Jones, L., . .  O'Donovan, M. C. (2022). Genetic liabilities differentiating bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depressive disorder, and phenotypic heterogeneity in bipolar disorder. JAMA Psychiatry, 79(10), 1032-1039. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.2594.

Sellers, R., Harold, G. T., Smith, A. F., Neiderhiser, J. M., Reiss, D., Shaw, D., . . . Leve, L. D. (2021). Disentangling nature from nurture in examining the interplay between parent-child relationships, ADHD, and early academic attainment. Psychological Medicine, 51(4), 645-652. doi:10.1017/S0033291719003593.

Thapar, A., Stewart-Brown, S., & Harold, G. T. (2021). What has happened to children's wellbeing in the UK? The Lancet Psychiatry, 8(1), 5-6. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30481-8.

Sellers, R., Harold, G. T., Thapar, A., Neiderhiser, J. M., Ganiban, J. M., Reiss, D., . . . & Leve, L. D. (2020). Examining the role of genetic risk and longitudinal transmission processes underlying maternal parenting and psychopathology and Children’s ADHD symptoms and aggression: Utilizing the advantages of a prospective adoption design. Behavior Genetics, 50(4), 247-262. doi:10.1007/s10519-020-10006-y.

Sellers, R., Smith, A., Leve, L. D., Nixon, E., Cassell, J., & Harold, G. (2019). Utilising genetically informed research designs to better understand family processes and child development: Implications for adoption and foster care focused interventions. Adoption and Fostering, 43(3), 351-371. doi:10.1177/0308575919866526

Leve, L. D., Griffin, A. M., Natsuaki, M. N., Harold, G. T., Neiderhiser, J. M., Ganiban, J. M., . . . & Reiss, D. (2019). Longitudinal examination of pathways to peer problems in middle childhood: A siblings-reared-apart design. Development and Psychopathology, 31(5), 1633-1647. doi:10.1017/S0954579419000890

Richards, A., Horwood, J., Boden, J., Kennedy, M., Sellers, R., Riglin, L., Mistry, S., Jones, H., Smith, D.J., Zammit, S., Owen, M., O’Donovan, M.C., & Harold, G.T. (2019). Associations between schizophrenia genetic risk, anxiety disorders and manic/hypomanic episode in a longitudinal population cohort study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 214(2), 96-102.

Harold, G. T., Sellers, R. (2018). Interparental Conflict and Youth Psychopathology: An Evidence Review and Practice Focused Update. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(4), 374-402.

Harold, G.T., Leve, L., & Sellers, R. (2017). How can genetically-informed research help inform the next generation of interparental and parenting interventions? Child Development, 88(2), 446-458.

Rice, F., Sellers, R., Hammerton, G., Eyre, O., Bevan-Jones, R., Thapar, A. K., Collishaw, S., Harold, G. T., & Thapar, A. (2017). Antecedents of new-onset major depressive disorder in adolescence: A longitudinal familial high-risk study. JAMA Psychiatry, 74(2), 153-160.

Leve, L. D., Neiderhiser, J. M., Harold, G.T., Natsuaki, M. N., Bohannan, B.J.M., & Cresko, W.A. (2017). Naturalistic experimental designs as tools for understanding the role of genes and the environment in prevention research. Prevention Science, 19(1), 68-78.

Harold, G. T., Leve, L. D., Kim, H. K., Mahedy, L., Gaysina, D., Thapar, A., & Collishaw, S. (2014). Maternal caregiving and girls’ depressive symptoms and antisocial behavior trajectories: An examination among high-risk youth. Development and Psychopathology, 26, 1461-1475.

Thapar, A., & Harold, G. T. (2014). Why is there such a mismatch between traditional heritability estimates and molecular genetic findings for behavioural traits. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55(10), 1088-1091.