SMILE PGR Showcase 2026

The Research Centre for SMILE invites you to our PGR showcase and here from our PGRs about the exciting work they are doing in the field of mental health and wellbeing in education. This event provides an opportunity and supportive environment for PGRs to share and celebrate their research.

Thurday 25th June 12-2pm, Ellen Wilkinson AG3/4

Agenda:

1. Lucy Smalley - Exploring the Frequency, Intensity, and Duration of Loneliness, and its Correlates, Among Young Adults in Education: A Latent Class Analysis of Data from the EU Loneliness Survey

Abstract: This paper examines loneliness among young adult students aged 18–24 (n = 543) across the European Union, focusing on factors distinguishing severe, persistent loneliness from more transient experiences. Using latent class analysis of EU Loneliness Survey data, it integrates frequency, intensity, and duration to identify distinct loneliness profiles. Guided by the Socio-Ecological Model, it tests associations across individual, interpersonal, community, and societal levels. The study offers the first EU-wide, person-centred analysis of loneliness severity among young adult students. Findings show severe loneliness is primarily linked to subjective interpersonal factors, with implications for theory, policy, and higher education.

1. Megan Cutts - Social experiences and subsequent wellbeing of young people with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream schools: a multigroup latent profile analysis

1. Kathryn Mills-Webb - From the school gates to the street corner: school and neighbourhood influences on adolescent mental health and wellbeing. A scoping review

Abstract: Declines in adolescent mental health and wellbeing represent a major public health concern, and understanding how key developmental contexts shape outcomes is essential to inform effective policy and prevention efforts. This scoping review mapped quantitative evidence about which factors within the school and neighbourhood are related to mental health and wellbeing outcomes among adolescents. Across studies, the focus is predominantly on social-relational factors, and skewed towards the school context and mental health outcomes. Longitudinal, multilevel, and pathway analyses were infrequent, limiting understanding about developmental processes and the influence of shared contexts. This gap between current research and the needs of practitioners and policymakers must be addressed to provide an evidence base that can effectively identify risk and protective factors, and modifiable touchpoints for intervention.

1. Name: Reihaneh Farzinnia - Wellbeing Trajectories in UK Adolescents: An Integrative Data Analysis

Abstract: This study used an integrative data analysis framework to examine wellbeing trajectories across six UK studies spanning ages 11-24 and calendar years 2009-2025. Wellbeing was measured using the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and harmonised using moderated nonlinear factor analysis. Differential-item-functioning-adjusted expected a posteriori scores were used as the primary outcome, providing a common latent wellbeing metric across studies, ages, sex, and measurement occasions. Calendar year was mapped across study waves, and latent wellbeing trajectories were estimated using linear mixed-effects models with random intercepts for participants. Conditional models additionally adjusted for sex, study, age, and the interaction between calendar time and sex. By placing multiple studies on a common measurement scale, this analysis provides evidence of sex differences and temporal declines in adolescent wellbeing across the UK.

1. Jiayi Quan (Joy) - Lightning talk: Does My Research Matter? Or Am I Thinking About Impact Too Soon?

Abstract: “Does my research actually matter?” I've been asking myself this since day one of my PhD. Now in Year 2, I’m still stuck between two voices in my head: one says focus on doing rigorous research first, worry about impact later. The other says if I'm not thinking about real-world relevance from the start, what's the point? Maybe I'm overthinking this too early. Or maybe sitting with this tension is part of the process. This talk is me thinking out loud about where I'm at with all this.

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Host or Publisher Alexandra Hennessey