Mary Barker is Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Science at the University of Southampton. She works on multi-level and interdisciplinary intervention projects aimed at supporting and empowering people, particularly young people, to promote the health of this generation and the next. This work involves a global network of partnerships and collaborations, many addressing issues of diet and food security. She is Deputy Director of the Institute for Life Sciences at the University of Southampton and theme lead for Climate Change, Wellbeing and Health, coordinating activities on this topic across the University.
Mary Barker
Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Science
Selected Publications
Other
Selected Publications
Gafari O, Craig A, Mabetha K, Hornby D, Hutton C, Barker M, et al. Food insecurity and the use of coping strategies on multimorbidity, anxiety and depression in South African adults: A nationally representative study. PLoS One (2026) 21(1): e0340695. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.034069
Jenner S, Barker M, Strömmer S, Shaw S, Khawaja L, Barrett M, Woods-Townsend K, Lovelock D, Bagust L, Leonard N, Lawrence W, Lambrick D, Varkonyi-Sepp J, Homatash H, Coakley P, Vogel C, Morrison L, Horsfall C, Inskip H & Baird J. Mixed-methods process evaluation of the EACH-B intervention in UK secondary schools: Delivery fidelity, stakeholder responses and contextual influences. BMJ Public Health (2025);3:e002491. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjph-2024-002491
Jenner S, Raidos D, Anderson E, Fleetwood S, Ainsworth B, Fox K, Kreppner J, Barker M. Using large language models for narrative analysis: a novel application of generative AI. Methods in Psychology (2025) Pages 100183 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metip.2025.100183
Draper C, Motlhatlhedi M, Klingberg S, Mabetha K, Soepnel L, Pentecost M, Nkosi N, Mabena G, Barker M, Lye S, Norris S, Weller S. Young women’s health behaviours in context: a qualitative longitudinal study in the Bukhali trial. Social Sciences & Humanities Open (2025) 12: 101622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101622
Erzse, A., Desmond, C., Hofman, K., Barker, M., Christofides, N.J. Identifying pregnant and postpartum women’s priorities for enhancing nutrition support through social needs programmes in a resource-constrained urban community in South Africa. BMC Public Health 24, 2231 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-19591-7
Watson D, Mhlaba M, Molelekeng G, Chauke TA, Correia Simao S, Jenner S, Ware LJ, Barker M. How do we best engage young people in decision making about their health? A scoping review of deliberative priority setting methods. Int J Equity Health (2023) Jan 25;22(1):17. Doi: 10.1186/s12939-022-01794-2
Strömmer, S., & Sivaramakrishnan, D., Shaw, S., Morrison, K., Jenner, S., Jillian Manner, J., Barrett, M., Hughes, T., Hardy-Johnson, P., Andreas, M., Lovelock, D., Paramananthan, S., Bagust, L., Buelo, A., Woods-Townsend, K., Burgess, R., Barker, M. & Jepson R. Young people’s experiences of COVID-19 messaging at the start of the UK lockdown: Lessons for positive engagement and information sharing. BMC Public Health (2022) Feb 18;22(1):352. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-12755-3. PMID: 35183137.
Neufeld L, Andrade EB, Ballonoff Suleiman A, Barker M, Beal T, Blum LS, Demmler KM, Dogra S, Hardy-Johnson P, Lahiri A, Larson N, Roberto CA, Rodríguez-Ramírez S, Shamah-Levy T, Sethi V, Strömmer S, Tumilowicz A, Weller S, Zou Z. Food choice in transition: Adolescent autonomy, agency, and the food environment. Lancet (2021) November 29, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01687-1
Shaw S, Simao SC, Jenner S, Lawrence WT, Woods-Townsend K, Vogel CA, Farrell D, Inskip H, Baird J, Morrison L, Barker M. Parental perspectives on negotiations over diet and physical activity: how do we involve parents in adolescent health interventions? Public Health Nutrition (2021) https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980021000458
Barker ME, Hardy-Johnson P, Weller S, Haileamalak A, Jarju L, Jesson J, Krishnaveni GV, Kumaran K, Leroy V, Moore SE, Norris SA, Patil S, Sahariah SA, Ward K, Yajnik CS, Fall CHD. How do we improve adolescent diet and physical activity in India and sub-Saharan Africa? Findings from the Transforming Adolescent Lives through Nutrition (TALENT) consortium. Public Health Nutrition, 2020 24(16), 5309-5317. doi:10.1017/S1368980020002244
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