Dr Sharon Neufeld University positionResearch Associate DepartmentsInstitutesHome pagehttp://dev.psychiatry.cam.ac.uk/ Research ThemesInterestsI am a quantitative psychologist interested in understanding the course and interplay of multiple domains of mental health in young people. My work has shown how treatment-as-usual mental health services are associated with a subsequent reduction in adolescent depression. I am developing a comprehensive model of mental wellbeing and mental illness in young people across a suite of positive and negative emotional and behavioural symptoms. I am also modelling the interplay of harmful behaviours (NSSI, substance use, and antisocial behaviour) over adolescence and young adulthood, to identify high-risk groups based on these multiple behaviours. My work also seeks to understand the role of hormones in development, such as cortisol dysregulation in mental illness, and the influence of testosterone on behaviour. Such efforts aim to elucidate the aetiology of emerging mental health problems in young people and reveal targets for prevention and treatment. Research Focus
EquipmentBehavioural analysis Cross-sectional and cohort studies Randomised control trials Collaborators
Associated News Items
Key publicationsNeufeld SAS, Dunn V, Jones PB, Croudace T, & Goodyer IM. (2017), “Reduction in adolescent depression following contact with mental health services: a longitudinal cohort study in the United Kingdom.” Lancet Psychiatry 4(2):120-127. Publicationsin pressNeufeld SAS*, Collaer M*, Spencer D, Pasterski V, Hindmarsh PC, Hughes IA, Acerini C, Hines M. (in press), “Androgens and child behavior: Color and toy preferences in children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH).” Hormones and Behaviour 2022Daimer S, Mihatsch L, Neufeld SAS, Murray GK, Knolle, F. (2022), “The relationship of COVID-19 related stress and media consumption with schizotypy, depression and anxiety. ” ELife, 11:e75893. Lutz NM, Neufeld SAS, Hook R, Jones PB, Bullmore E, Chamberlain SR, Wilkinson PO. (2022), “Why is non-suicidal self-injury more common in women? Mediation and moderation analyses of psychological distress, emotion dysregulation, and impulsivity.” Archives of Suicide Research, DOI:10.1080/13811118.2022.2084004. Neufeld SA, St Clair M, Brodbeck J, Wilkinson P, Goodyer I, Jones PB (2022), “Measurement invariance in longitudinal bifactor models: review and application based on the p factor.” Open Science Framework: osf.io/fbd3h Neufeld SAS (2022), “The burden of young people’s mental health conditions in Europe: no cause for complacency. ” Lancet Regional Health - Europe. 16:100364 Schlechter P, Ford T, Neufeld SAS. (2022), “The eight-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing: Longitudinal and gender invariance, sum score models, and external associations. ” Assessment. DOI: 10.1177/10731911221138930 Thorburn-Winsor EA, Neufeld SAS, Rowthorn H, van Sluijs EMF, Brage S, Jones PB, Goodyer IM, Winpenny EM. (2022), “Device-measured sleep onset and duration in the development of depressive symptoms in adolescence.” Journal of Affective Disorders, 310: 396-403. Wiedemann A, Stochl J, Neufeld SAS, Fritz J, Bhatti J, Hook R, NSPN Consortium, Goodyer IM, Dolan R, Bullmore ET, Chamberlain SR, Fonagy P, Perez J, Jones PB. (2022), “The impact of the first COVID-19 wave on young people’s mental health: A longitudinal study of risk and resilience factors. ” Scientific Reports. 16659 Wilkinson P, Qiu T, Jesmont C, Neufeld S, Kaur, Jones P, Goodyer I. (2022), “Age and Gender Effects on Non-Suicidal Self-Injury, and their Interplay with Psychological Distress. ” J. Affect. Disord. 306: 240-245 2021Chadha A, Neufeld S, Goodyer IM, Fonagy P, Midgley N, Impact Consortium, Wilkinson P (2021), “Associations between baseline cortisol and trajectory of symptom improvement in depressed adolescents receiving psychological therapy. ” J. Affect. Disord. 287: 191–195 Moutoussis M, Garzón B, Neufeld S, Bach DR, Rigoli F, Goodyer I, Bullmore E, NSPN Consortium, Guitart-Masip M, Dolan RJ (2021), “Decision-making ability, psychopathology, and brain connectivity.” Neuron 109: 2025–2040 Schlechter P, Fritz J, Cassels M, Neufeld SAS, Wilkinson PO (2021), “The Youth and Childhood Adversity Scale: A step towards developing a new measure of adversity and its severity. ” Eur. J. Psychotraumatol 12(1): 1981573 Spencer D, Pasterski V, Neufeld S, Glover V, O’Connor TG, Hindmarsh PC, Hughes IA, Acerini CL, Hines M (2021), “Prenatal androgen exposure and children’s gender-typed behavior and toy and playmate preferences. ” Horm. Behav. 127: 104889 2020Cassels M, Neufeld S, van Harmelen AL, Goodyer I, Wilkinson P. (2020), “Prospective pathways from impulsivity to non-suicidal self-injury among youth. ” Arch. Suicide Res. DOI: 10.1080/13811118.2020.1811180 Davies SE, Neufeld SAS, van Sprang E, Schweren L, Keivit R, Fonagy P, Dubicka B, Kelvin R, Midgley N, Reynolds S, Target M, Wilkinson P, van Harmelen A, Goodyer IM (2020), “Trajectories of depression symptom change during and following treatment in adolescents with unipolar major depression.” J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry. 61(5): 565-574 Neufeld, SAS. (2020), “Understanding Mental Health Treatment Effectiveness in Young People.” Dissertation, University of Cambridge, UK. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/304301 Polek E, Neufeld SAS, Wilkinson PO, Goodyer IM, NSPN Consortium, St Clair MC, Prabhu G, Dolan R, Bullmore E, Fonagy P, Stochl J, Jones PB. (2020), “How do the prevalence and relative risk of non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal thoughts vary across the population distribution of common mental distress (the p-factor) in two independent UK cohorts of young people? ” BMJ Open 10:e032494 2019Dobler V*, Neufeld SAS*, Teufel C, Subramaniam N, Perez J, Fletcher P, Goodyer IM. (*first 2 authors are co-first authors, listed alphabetically.) (2019), “Disentangling effects of childhood adversities and mental illness on physiological mechanisms of cortisol release. ” Neurobiol. Stress. 10, 100153 2018Cassels M, van Harmelen AL, Neufeld S, Goodyer I, Jones PB, Wilkinson P. (2018), “Poor family functioning mediates the link between childhood adversity and adolescent non-suicidal self-injury.” J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry. 59(8):881-887 Kung KTF, Spencer D, Pasterski V, Neufeld S, Hindmarsh PC, Hughes IA, Acerini CL, Hines M (2018), “Emotional and Behavioral Adjustment in 4 to 11-Year-Old Boys and Girls with Classic Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia and Unaffected Siblings. ” Psychoneuroendocrinology 97:104-110 Lewis G, Ioannidis K, van Harmelen AL, Neufeld S, Stochl J, Lewis G, Jones PB, Goodyer IM. (2018), “Associations between breast but not pubic hair development and adolescent depression: a population-based cohort study. ” PLOS One 13(6):e0198804 Wilkinson PO, Qiu T, Neufeld SAS, Jones PB, Goodyer IM. (2018), “Sporadic and Recurrent Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Before Age 14 and Incident Onset of Psychiatric Disorders by 17 years. ” Br J Psychiatry 2017Neufeld SAS, Jones PB, Goodyer IM. (2017), “Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Longitudinal data sheds light on current policy for psychological interventions in the community. ” J Public Mental Health 16(3):96-99 Neufeld SAS, Jones PB, Goodyer IM. (2017), “Reduction in adolescent depression following contact with mental health services: a longitudinal cohort study in the United Kingdom-authors’ reply. ” Lancet Psychiatry 4(5):e8-9 Spencer D, Pasterski V, Neufeld S, Glover V, O’Connor TG, Hindmarsh PC, Hughes IA, Acerini CL, Hines M. (2017), “Investigating possible androgenic influences on sex differences in young children’s aggressive behavior and activity level. ” Horm Behav 96:156-165 St Clair M, Neufeld S, Jones PB, Fonagy P, Bullmore E, Dolan R, Moutoussis M, Toseeb U, Goodyer IM. (2017), “Characterising the latent structure and organisation of self-reported thoughts, feelings and behaviours in adolescents and young adults. ” PLOS ONE 12(4):e0175381. van Harmelen AL, Kievit RA, Ioannidis K, Neufeld S, Jones PB, Bullmore E, Dolan R, the NSPN consortium, Fonagy P, Goodyer I. (2017), “ Adolescent friendships predict resilient psychosocial functioning across multiple domains after childhood family adversity.” Psychol. Med. 47(13):2312-2322. 2016Hines M, Pasterski V, Spencer D, Neufeld S, Patalay P, Hindmarsh PC, Hughes IA, Acerini, CL. (2016), “Prenatal androgen exposure alters girls' responses to information indicating gender-appropriate behaviour. ” Philos. Trans. Royal Soc. B 371(1688):20150125. Kung KTF, Spencer D, Pasterski V, Neufeld S, Glover V, O’Connor TG, Hindmarsh PC, Hughes IA, Acerini CL, Hines M. (2016), “No Relationship Between Prenatal Androgen Exposure and Autistic Traits: Convergent Evidence From Studies of Children With Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia and of Amniotic Testosterone Concentrations in Typically-Developing Children. ” J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 57(12):1455-1462. 2015Browne WV, Hindmarsh PC, Pasterski V, Hughes IA, Acerini CL, Spencer D, Neufeld S & Hines M. (2015), “Working Memory Performance is Reduced in Children with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia. ” Horm Behav 67: 83–88. Pasterski V, Zucker KJ, Hindmarsh PC, Hughes IA, Acerini C, Spencer D, Neufeld S & Hines M. (2015), “ Increased Cross-Gender Identification Independent of Gender Role Behavior in Girls with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia: Results from a Standardized Assessment of 4- to 11-Year-Old Children.” Arch. Sex. Behav. 44(5):1363-75. 2012Neufeld SA, Sikkema KJ, Lee RS, Kochman A, & Hansen N. (2012), “The Development and Psychometric Properties of the HIV and Abuse Related Shame Inventory (HARSI). ” AIDS behav 16(4):1063-74. 2011Heckman TG, Sikkema KJ, Hansen NB, Kochman A, Heh V, & Neufeld S. (2011), “A Randomized Clinical Trial of a Coping Improvement Group Intervention for HIV-Infected Older Adults.” J Behav Med 34(2):102-111. 2010Sikkema KJ, Neufeld SA, Hansen NB, Mohlahlane R, Van Rensburg MJ, Watt MJ, Fox AM, & Crewe M. (2010), “Integrating HIV Prevention into Services for Abused Women in South Africa. ” AIDS behav 14(2):431-439. 2008Makin JD, Forsyth BWC, Visser MJ, Sikkema KJ, Neufeld S, & Jeffery B. (2008), “Factors affecting disclosure in South African HIV-positive pregnant women.” AIDS Patient Care STDS 22(11): 907-916 Sikkema KJ, Wilson PA, Hansen NB, Kochman A, Neufeld S, Ghebremichael MS, & Kershaw T. (2008), “Effects of a coping intervention on transmission risk behavior among people living with HIV/AIDS and a history of childhood sexual abuse.” JAIDS 47(4): 506-513. Visser MJ, Neufeld S, de Villiers A, Makin JD, & Forsyth B. (2008). (2008), “To tell or not to tell: South African women’s disclosure of HIV status during pregnancy.” AIDS Care 20(9):1138-1145 Wilson PA, Hansen NB, Tarakeshwar N, Neufeld S, Kochman A, & Sikkema KJ. (2008), “Scale development of a measure to assess community-based and clinical intervention group environments.” J Community Psychol 36(3): 271-288 2007Sikkema KJ, Hansen NB, Kochman A, Tarakeshwar N, Neufeld S, Meade CS, & Fox AM. (2007), “Outcomes from a group intervention for coping with HIV/AIDS and childhood sexual abuse: Reductions in traumatic stress. ” AIDS behav 11:49-60. |