Research Profile

Fionnuala Larkin

Biography

Fionnuala Larkin is a Senior Lecturer at University College Cork. Fionnuala trained as a Clinical Psychologist at University College Dublin, where she conducted research on parent-child interaction in autism spectrum disorders under the supervision of Dr Suzanne Guerin (University College Dublin) and Dr Jessica Hobson (University College London). On qualifying in 2012, she worked with the Brothers of Charity in Waterford, providing assessment and intervention to children and adults with intellectual disability, where she became increasingly interested in family functioning and parent-child relationships in the context of disability. To pursue these interests, she moved to University of York in 2014 to work as a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Professor Elizabeth Meins, conducting research on mind-mindedness: the proclivity for parents to focus on mental states when thinking and talking about their children. She has since worked in a number of academic roles, including Associate Lecturer at the University of York, Senior Lecturer at York St John University, and Senior Clinical Psychologist at University of Limerick. She holds an honorary position as Adjunct Lecturer at University College Dublin.

Fionnuala has worked in clinical practice alongside academia, in the area of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She worked as a clinical psychologist with the NHS North Yorkshire Autism and ADHD service at The Retreat, York from 2017, and provides clinical supervision. She is qualified to provide training and supervision on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2.

Research Interests

Fionnuala’s research focuses on developmental psychology and psychopathology and bidirectional influences within the parent-child relationship that shape children’s social and emotional development. She has published on topics related to mind-mindedness, infant and maternal mental health, parent-child interaction, autism and other developmental disorders. She is Co-Investigator on a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ES/R004706/1) to evaluate the influence of early mind-mindedness on children’s self-regulation and emotion understanding. Her research has previously been funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust (SG162395). Most recently, she has been conducting research on the experiences of autistic mothers, utilising a participatory research approach. She has supervised doctoral, Master’s and BSc student projects.    

Publications

Peer Reviewed Journals

 YearPublication
(2022)'Guided participation and parental tutoring in preschool children with autism: A pilot study of Relationship Development Intervention (RDI)'
Larkin, Fionnuala; Hollaway, Lynne; Garlington, Mary; Hobson, Jessica (2022) 'Guided participation and parental tutoring in preschool children with autism: A pilot study of Relationship Development Intervention (RDI)'. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, [DOI] [Full Text] [Details]
(2021)'Explaining the relation between early mind-mindedness and children’s mentalizing abilities: The development of an observational preschool assessment'
Fishburn, S. and Meins, E. and Fernyhough, C. and Centifanti, L. C. M. and Larkin, F. (2021) 'Explaining the relation between early mind-mindedness and children’s mentalizing abilities: The development of an observational preschool assessment'. Developmental Psychology, [DOI] [Details]
(2021)'Mind-mindedness versus mentalistic interpretations of behavior: Is mind-mindedness a relational construct?'
Larkin F;Schacht R;Oostenbroek J;Hayward E;Fernyhough C;Muñoz Centifanti LC;Meins E; (2021) 'Mind-mindedness versus mentalistic interpretations of behavior: Is mind-mindedness a relational construct?'. Infant Mental Health Journal, 42 (2) [DOI] [Details]
(2021)'Translation and preliminary validation of a Korean version of the parental reflective functioning questionnaire'
Lee Y;Meins E;Larkin F; (2021) 'Translation and preliminary validation of a Korean version of the parental reflective functioning questionnaire'. Infant Mental Health Journal, 42 (1) [DOI] [Details]
(2021)'Mind-Mindedness and Stress in Parents of Children with Developmental Disorders'
Larkin F;Hayiou-Thomas ME;Arshad Z;Leonard M;Williams FJ;Katseniou N;Malouta RN;Marshall CRP;Diamantopoulou M;Tang E;Mani S;Meins E; (2021) 'Mind-Mindedness and Stress in Parents of Children with Developmental Disorders'. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 51 (2) [DOI] [Details]
(2019)'Predisposing Factors for Elevated Restricted and Repetitive Behavior in Typically Developing Toddlers'
Larkin F;Meins E;Leekam SR; (2019) 'Predisposing Factors for Elevated Restricted and Repetitive Behavior in Typically Developing Toddlers'. Infancy : The Official Journal Of The International Society On Infant Studies, 24 (1) [DOI] [Details]
(2019)'Proof of concept of a smartphone app to support delivery of an intervention to facilitate mothers' mind-mindedness'
Larkin F;Oostenbroek J;Lee Y;Hayward E;Meins E; (2019) 'Proof of concept of a smartphone app to support delivery of an intervention to facilitate mothers' mind-mindedness'. Plos One, 14 (8) [DOI] [Details]
(2017)'How does restricted and repetitive behavior relate to language and cognition in typical development?'
Larkin F;Meins E;Centifanti LCM;Fernyhough C;Leekam SR; (2017) 'How does restricted and repetitive behavior relate to language and cognition in typical development?'. Development And Psychopathology, 29 (3) [DOI] [Details]
(2017)'Collaborative competence in dialogue: Pragmatic language impairment as a window onto the psychopathology of autism'
Larkin F.;Hobson J.;Hobson R.;Tolmie A. (2017) 'Collaborative competence in dialogue: Pragmatic language impairment as a window onto the psychopathology of autism'. Research In Autism Spectrum Disorders, 43-44 :27-39 [DOI] [Details]
(2015)'The relationship development assessment - research version: preliminary validation of a clinical tool and coding schemes to measure parent-child interaction in autism'
Larkin F;Guerin S;Hobson JA;Gutstein SE; (2015) 'The relationship development assessment - research version: preliminary validation of a clinical tool and coding schemes to measure parent-child interaction in autism'. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 20 (2) [DOI] [Details]

Professional Activities

Professional Associations

 AssociationFunctionFrom / To
Health and Social Care Professions Council (HCPC) Practitioner Psychologist/

Research Information

External Collaborators

 NameOrganisation / InstituteCountry
Dr Sarah Fishburn Teeside UniversityUNITED KINGDOM
Dr Jessica Hobson Sonoma State UniversityU.S.A.
Dr Emma Hayiou-Thomas University of YorkUNITED KINGDOM
Professor Elizabeth Meins University of YorkUNITED KINGDOM

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University College Cork

Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh

College Road, Cork T12 K8AF

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