Caoimhe Dempsey

Caoimhe Dempsey is a Lecturer in the School of Applied Psychology, UCC. Her research explores family dynamics and children's socio-emotional development in home and school contexts. Caoimhe holds a Ba in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin, and an MRes and PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Cambridge. She previously held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Economic and Social Research Institute and Trinity College Dublin. She is currently involved in a number of projects looking at how best to support children's socio-emotional development through the quality of relationships across contexts. 

Caoimhe's research can be broadly categorised into two key themes:

1. Family influences on children’s social, emotional and cognitive outcomes including spillover between family relationships, bidirectional and child-driven effects.
2. Early educational experiences as a moderator of family life and consequences for long-term academic and socio-emotional outcomes. 

Caoimhe utilises observational and advanced quantitative methods to examine these themes. Her work aims to inform evidence-based support for families and educational policy and practice. 

Current projects: 

• Family influences on children's adjustment during the transition to primary school
• Concordance of parenting qualities within dual-parent families and links with children's internalising and externalising problems
• School experiences contributing to student mental health and wellbeing 

I teach on the Ba in Early Years and Childhood Studies, Ba in Applied Psychology, and Ba in Applied Social Studies. 

I teach on the following modules:

• Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence
• Applied Developmental Psychology: Infants, Toddlers and Children
• Child and Family Health Psychology
• Applied Quantitative Research Methods

I also supervise undergraduate and masters dissertation students and PhD students. 

Laura Mahady (DClinPsych 2025-2028) attachment and mental health