Dr Nick Axford
Profiles

Dr Nick Axford

NIHR Peninsula ARC (PenARC) Associate Professor in Health Services

Peninsula Medical School (Faculty of Health)

I work on a variety of projects with a focus on child health and implementation science. My specialism is evidence-based prevention and early intervention to improve child well-being, with a particular focus on developing or adapting interventions and evaluating their effectiveness and implementation. Prior to joining the University of Plymouth in April 2017 I was a Senior Researcher at Dartington Social Research Unit, an independent charity that brings science and evidence to bear on policy and practice in children's services to improve the health and development of children and young people.

Qualifications

2003 - PhD Advanced Social Work and Probation Studies, University of Exeter
1997 - MSc European Social Policy Analysis, University of Bath
1994 - BA(Hons) Geography with European Study, University of Exeter

Roles on external bodies

Member of the Board of the European Society for Prevention Research (2019-present)
Member of the What Works Centre for Children's Social Care Evidence Panel (2019-present)
Senior Associate, Dartington Service Design Lab (2017-present)
Member of the Early Intervention Foundation Evidence Panel (2014-present)

Research interests

My research interests are evidence-based prevention and early intervention to improve child well-being, notably designing services and evaluating their effectiveness and implementation. I have undertaken studies involving a variety of methods, including evidence reviews, randomised controlled trials and focus groups, and covering a range of subject areas, such as antisocial behaviour, bullying, child maltreatment, early childhood development and social-emotional learning. I am particularly interested in forms of intervention that have the potential to achieve impact at scale, and in methods for developing and testing these - including co-production with users and the use of rapid cycle innovation. I also enjoy engaging in debates about the value of evidence-based approaches in children's services.


Key publications

Key publications are highlighted

Journals
Articles
Axford N, Berry V, Lloyd J, Hobbs T & Wyatt K 2020 'Promoting learning from null or negative results in prevention science trials' Prevention Science , DOI Open access
Axford N, Bjornstad G, Matthews J, Whybra L, Berry V, Ukoumunne O, Hobbs T, Wrigley Z, Brook L & Taylor R 2020 'The Effectiveness of a Community-Based Mentoring Program for Children Aged 5–11 Years: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial' Prevention Science 22, (1) 100-112 , DOI Open access
Axford N, Bjornstad G, Matthews J, Heilmann S, Raja A, Ukoumunne O, Berry V, Wilkinson T, Timmons L & Hobbs T 2020 'The effectiveness of a therapeutic parenting program for children aged 6-11 years with behavioral or emotional difficulties: Results from a randomised controlled trial' Children and Youth Services Review 117, , DOI Open access
Axford N, Bjornstad G, Clarkson S, Ukoumunne O, Wrigley Z, Matthews J & Berry V 2020 'The effectiveness of the KiVa bullying prevention program in Wales, UK: results from a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial' Prevention Science , DOI Open access
Bjornstad GJ, Sonthalia S, Rouse B, Timmons L, Whybra L & Axford N 2020 'PROTOCOL: A comparison of the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural interventions based on delivery features for elevated symptoms of depression in adolescents' Campbell Systematic Reviews 16, (1) , DOI Open access
Whybra L, Warner G, Bjornstad G, Hobbs T, Brook L, Wrigley Z, Berry V, Ukoumunne OC, Matthews J & Taylor R 2018 'The effectiveness of Chance UK’s mentoring programme in improving behavioural and emotional outcomes in primary school children with behavioural difficulties: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial' BMC Psychology 6, (1) , DOI Open access
Axford N, Warner G, Hobbs T, Heilmann S, Raja A, Berry V, Ukoumunne OC, Matthews J, Eames T & Kallitsoglou A 2018 'The effectiveness of the Inspiring Futures parenting programme in improving behavioural and emotional outcomes in primary school children with behavioural or emotional difficulties: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial' BMC Psychology 6, (1) , DOI Open access
Kemp F, Raja A, Ohlson C, Morpeth L & Axford N 2017 'Fund-Mapping: the investment of public resources in the well-being of children and young people in Northern Ireland' Child Care in Practice , DOI Open access
Axford N & Berry V 2017 'Perfect Bedfellows: Why Early Intervention Can Play a Critical Role in Protecting Children—A Response to Featherstone et al. (2014) ‘A Marriage Made in Hell: Child Protection Meets Early Intervention’' The British Journal of Social Work , DOI Open access
Morpeth L, Blower S, Tobin K, Taylor RS, Bywater T, Edwards RT, Axford N, Lehtonen M, Jones C & Berry V 2017 'The effectiveness of the Incredible Years pre-school parenting programme in the United Kingdom: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial' Child Care in Practice 23, (2) 141-161 , DOI Open access
Clarkson S, Axford N, Berry V, Edwards RT, Bjornstad G, Wrigley Z, Charles J, Hoare Z, Ukoumunne OC & Matthews J 2015 'Effectiveness and micro-costing of the KiVa school-based bullying prevention programme in Wales: study protocol for a pragmatic definitive parallel group cluster randomised controlled trial' BMC Public Health 16, (1) , DOI Open access
Barlow J, Schrader-McMillan A, Axford N, Wrigley Z, Sonthalia S, Wilkinson T, Rawsthorn M, Toft A & Coad J 2015 'Review: Attachment and attachment-related outcomes in preschool children - a review of recent evidence' Child and Adolescent Mental Health 21, (1) 11-20 , DOI
Berry V, Axford N, Blower S, Taylor RS, Edwards RT, Tobin K, Jones C & Bywater T 2015 'The Effectiveness and Micro-costing Analysis of a Universal, School-Based, Social–Emotional Learning Programme in the UK: A Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial' School Mental Health 8, (2) 238-256 , DOI Open access
Axford N, Farrington DP, Clarkson S, Bjornstad GJ, Wrigley Z & Hutchings J 2015 'Involving parents in school-based programmes to prevent and reduce bullying: what effect does it have?' Journal of Children's Services 10, (3) 242-251 , DOI Open access
Axford N 2013 'Exploring the influence of international governmental organisations on domestic child welfare policy and practice' Adoption & Fostering 37, (1) 57-70 , DOI
Axford N & Morpeth L 2013 'Evidence-based programs in children's services: A critical appraisal' Children and Youth Services Review 35, (2) 268-277 , DOI Open access
Little M, Berry VL, Morpeth L, Blower S, Axford N, Taylor R, Bywater T, Lehtonen M & Tobin K 2012 'The impact of three evidence-based programmes delivered in public systems in Birmingham, UK' International Journal of Conflict and Violence 6, (2) 260-272
Axford N, Lehtonen M, Kaoukji D, Tobin K & Berry V 2012 'Engaging parents in parenting programs: Lessons from research and practice' Children and Youth Services Review 34, (10) 2061-2071 , DOI
Axford N, Hobbs T & Jodrell D 2012 'Making Child Well-Being Data Work Hard: Getting from Data to Policy and Practice' Child Indicators Research 6, (1) 161-177 , DOI
Little M & Axford N 2012 'Plurality and rigour' Journal of Children's Services 7, (3) , DOI
Axford N, Elliott DS & Little M 2012 'Blueprints for Europe: Promoting Evidence-Based Programmes in Children's Services' Psychosocial Intervention 21, (2) 205-214 , DOI
Axford N 2011 'Children and global social policy: Exploring the impact of international governmental organisations' International Journal of Social Welfare 21, (1) 53-65 , DOI
Axford N, Jonas M, Berry V, Green V & Morpeth L 2010 'Can study tours help promote evidence-based practice in children's services?' European Journal of Social Work 13, (4) 523-543 , DOI
Axford N 2010 'What's in a service?' Child & Family Social Work 15, (4) 473-482 , DOI
Hobbs T, Axford N & Jodrell D 2010 'Getting the Measure of Child Health and Development Outcomes (2): The Picture for a Local Authority in England' Child Indicators Research 4, (1) 81-100 , DOI
Axford N & Hobbs T 2010 'Getting the Measure of Child Health and Development Outcomes (1): A Method for Use in Children’s Services Settings' Child Indicators Research 4, (1) 59-80 , DOI
Axford N 2009 'Child well-being through different lenses: why concept matters' Child & Family Social Work 14, (3) 372-383 , DOI
Axford N, Green V, Kalsbeek A, Morpeth L & Palmer C 2009 'Measuring children's needs: how are we doing?' Child & Family Social Work 14, (3) 243-254 , DOI
Whear R & Axford N 2009 '“Finish What's on Your Plate!”: The Relationships between Parenting, Children's Nutrition and Outcomes' Child Care in Practice 15, (2) 145-159 , DOI
Axford N 2009 'Developing congruent children's services to improve child well-being' Child & Family Social Work 14, (1) 35-44 , DOI
Axford N, Morpeth L, Little M & Berry VL 2008 'Linking prevention science and community engagement: a case study of the Ireland Disadvantaged Children and Youth Programme' Journal of Children’s Services 3, (2) 40-54
Axford N 2008 'Are Looked after Children Socially Excluded?' Adoption & Fostering 32, (4) 5-18 , DOI
Axford N & Whear R 2008 'Measuring and Meeting the Needs of Children and Families in the Community: Survey of Parents on a Housing Estate in Dublin, Ireland' Child Care in Practice 14, (4) 331-353 , DOI
Axford N 2008 'Is Social Exclusion a Useful Concept in Children's Services?' British Journal of Social Work 40, (3) 737-754 , DOI
Axford N 2008 'Conducting Needs Assessments in Children's Services' British Journal of Social Work 40, (1) 4-25 , DOI
Axford N, Crewe E, Domitrovich C & Morawska A 2008 'The science of a good childhood: a review of Volume 2 of theJournal of Children's Services' Journal of Children's Services 3, (4) 46-58 , DOI
Kiernan G, Axford N, Little M, Murphy C, Greene S & Gormley M 2008 'the school readiness of children living in a disadvantaged area in Ireland' Journal of Early Childhood Research 6, (2) 119-144 , DOI
Hobbs T, Carr M, Holley M, Gray N & Axford N 2008 'A dark art comes to the water‐cooler: a review of some key texts on RCTs for children's services professionals and researchers' Journal of Children's Services 3, (1) 40-50 , DOI
Little M & Axford N 2007 'New directions, familiar challenges? A review of the first volume of the Journal of Children's Services' Journal of Children's Services 2, (1) 58-66 , DOI
Berry VL, Axford N & Little M 2006 'Enhancing service evaluability: lessons from a programme for disaffected young people' Children & Society 20, (4) 287-298
Axford N, Berry V, Little M & Morpeth L 2006 'Developing a Common Language in Children's Services through Research‐based Inter‐disciplinary Training' Social Work Education 25, (2) 161-176 , DOI
Axford N & Little M 2006 'Refocusing children's services towards prevention: lessons from the literature' Children & Society , DOI
Axford N & Berry V 2005 'Exploring the Potential of Shadow Controls in the Evaluation of Children’s Services' International Journal of Social Research Methodology 8, (5) 389-404 , DOI
Axford N & Berry V 2005 'Measuring Outcomes in the ‘New’ Children's Services' Journal of Integrated Care 13, (4) 12-23 , DOI
Axford N 2005 'Evaluating Children's Services: Recent Conceptual and Methodological Developments' British Journal of Social Work 35, (1) 73-88 , DOI
Axford N, Morpeth L, Pring J & Madge G 2004 'Mapping the Data Needed to Plan Integrated Services: a case study of children’s services in one locality' Journal of Integrated Care 12, (3) 3-10
Little M, Axford N & Morpeth L 2003 'Children's services in the UK 1997-2003: problems, developments and challenges for the future' Children & Society 17, (3) 205-214 , DOI
Axford N, Bjornstad G, Matthews J, Heilmann S, Raja A, Ukoumunne O, Berry V, Wilkinson T, Timmons L & Hobbs T 'The effectiveness of a therapeutic parenting program for children aged 6-11 years with behavioural or emotional difficulties: results from a randomized controlled trial' Children and Youth Services Review
Books
Axford N 2008 Exploring concepts of child well-being: Implications for children's services.
Chapters
Farrington DP, Utting D & Axford N 2020 'Great Britain' in Farrington DP; Jonkman H; Groeger-Roth F Delinquency and Substance Use in Europe: Understanding Risk and Protective Factors Switzerland Springer , DOI
Schrader McMillan A & Axford N 2019 'Intimate partner violence' in Emond A Health for All Children (5th Edition) Oxford Oxford University Press 45-58
Glover V, Reynolds R, Axford N & Barlow J 2019 'Perinatal parental mental health problems' in Emond A Health for All Children (5th Edition) Oxford Oxford University Press 31-44
Axford N & Barlow J 2019 'Tobacco, alcohol, and substance use in the perinatal period' in Emond A Health for All Children (5th Edition) Oxford Oxford University Press 59-70
Axford N, Bywater T, Blower S, Berry V, Baker V & Morpeth L 2017 'Critical factors in the implementation of parenting programmes: fidelity, adaptation and promoting quality' in Dixon L; Perkins DF; Hamilton-Giachritisis C; Craig LA The Wiley Handbook of What Works in Child Maltreatment: An Evidence-Based Approach to Assessment and Intervention in Child Protection
Berry V, Blower S, Axford N, Little M & Kaoukji D 2014 'The prevention of child maltreatment and neglect' in Conte J Child Abuse and Neglect Worldwide
Axford N, Jodrell D & Hobbs T 2014 'Objective or subjective well-being?' in Ben-Arieh A; Casas F; Frones I; Korbin JE Handbook of Child Well-Being: Theories, Methods and Policies in Global Perspective Springer Heidelberg 2699-2738 , DOI
Axford N & Morpeth L 2012 'The Common Language prevention operating system: from strategy development to implementation of evidence-based practice' in Kelly B; Perkins D Handbook of Implementation Science for Educational Psychology Cambridge Cambridge University Press
Axford N 2010 'Introduction' in Axford N Defining and Classifying Children in Need Aldershot Ashgate
Axford N, Berry V, Bullock R, Little M, Madge J, Morpeth L & Mount K 2007 'Research-Based Practice Tools to Improve Child Welfare Services in England: Using the Going Home? Practice Tool to Support the Effective Reunification of Families' Research for Action Oxford University Press 88-110 , DOI
Axford N, Berry V, Little M & Morpeth L 2005 'Introduction' in Axford N; Berry V; Little M; Morpeth L Forty Years of Research, Policy and Practice: A Festschrift for Roger Bullock Chichester Wiley 3-14
Axford N, Berry V, Little M, Madge J & Morpeth L 2005 'Messages for research, policy and practice in children's services' in Axford N; Berry V; Little M; Morpeth L Forty Years of Research, Policy and Practice in Children’s Services: A Festschrift for Roger Bullock Chichester Wiley
Axford N & Morpeth L 2005 'Where next for social research at Dartington?' in Axford N; Berry V; Little M; Morpeth L Forty Years of Research, Policy and Practice: A Festschrift for Roger Bullock Chichester Wiley
Axford N, Berry V, Bullock R, Little M, Madge J, Morpeth L & Mount K 2005 'Experiments in using practice tools to disseminate research' in Kloekner C; Paetzel U Kindheitsforschung und kommunale Praxis: Praxisnahe Erkenntnisse aus der aktuellen Kindheitsforschung Wiesbaden VS-Verlag
Reports
Green F, Hobbs T, Axford N, Ellis D, Mannes J, Murphy M, Lily R, Burns L, Rybczynska-Bunt S & Thompson T 2020 Engaging Young People During the COVID-19 Pandemic. London Youth Endowment Fund Open access
Axford N, Berry V, Lloyd J, Moore D, Rogers M, Hurst A, Blockley K, Durkin H & Minton J 2019 How Can Schools Support Parents' Engagement in their Children's Learning? Evidence from Research and Practice. London Education Endowment Foundation Open access
Axford N & Albers B 2019 Improving the Early Learning of Children Growing Up in Poverty: A Rapid Review of the Evidence. London Save the Children UK Open access
Van Poortlviet M, Axford N & Lloyd J 2018 Working with Parents to Support Children's Learning: Guidance Report. London Education Endowment Foundation Open access
Axford N, Lowther K, Timmons L, Bjornstad G, Brook L, Webb L & Sonthalia S 2018 Rapid Review on Safeguarding to Update the Healthy Child Programme 5 to 19. Open access
Axford N, Whelan S & Hobbs T 2018 'Wrong' answers, right response: learning from randomised controlled trials when you don't get the results you were hoping for. Author Site Open access
Other Publications
Little M & Axford N Article type: Editorial from: Journal of children's services, volume 7, issue 2.
Axford N & Little M Calling all radicals. Emerald , DOI
Axford N Editorial. Emerald , DOI
Axford N & Little M Editorial: ‘BV159 RIP’. Emerald 2-3 , DOI
Axford N & Little M Editorial: A tale of one programme and two evaluations. Emerald 2-3 , DOI
Axford N & Little M Editorial: Building bridges: what can research contribute?. Emerald 2-3 , DOI
Axford N & Little M Editorial: Connecting the bees and the trees. Emerald 2-3 , DOI
Axford N & Little M Editorial: Less heat, more light. Emerald 3-3 , DOI
Axford N & Little M Editorial: Relationships matter - well they do, relatively speaking. Emerald 2-4 , DOI
Little M & Axford N Editorial: Taking children's services out of the electoral cycle. Emerald 2-3 , DOI
Little M & Axford N Editorial: The place of proven models. Emerald 3-5 , DOI
Little M & Axford N Editorial: To innovate, or not to innovate?. Emerald 2-3 , DOI
Little M & Axford N Editorial: Turning the world upside down. Emerald 2-3 , DOI
Little M & Axford N Editorial: Why another journal?. Emerald 2-4 , DOI
Axford N Global Child Welfare and Well-Being. Oxford University Press (OUP) 999-1001 , DOI
Axford N & Little M How to wine friends and influence people. Emerald 2-3 , DOI
Axford N In praise of academic dust-ups. Emerald 221-223 , DOI
Axford N & Little M Journal of children's services.
Axford N & Little M Let's walk before we run. Emerald 2-3 , DOI
Axford N & Little M Letter from Krakow. Emerald , DOI
AXFORD N Mel Gray, Debbie Plath and Stephen A. Webb (2009), Evidence-based Social Work: A Critical Stance. Abingdon: Routledge. £22.99, pp. 216, pbk. Cambridge University Press (CUP) 425-427 , DOI
Axford N & Little M Neither monsters nor saints [1]. Emerald , DOI
Little M & Axford N Rippling the water. Emerald , DOI
Little M & Axford N Subtract… be incisive ‐ here, borrow my knife. Emerald 2-3 , DOI
Little M & Axford N Taking over the world or scratching at its surface?. Emerald , DOI
Axford N & Little M To happiness and beyond. Emerald 2-3 , DOI
Axford N & Little M Towards the anatomy of a kiss?. Emerald 2-3 , DOI
Axford N Understanding International Social Work: A Critical Analysis, Richard Hugman, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010, pp. xii + 194, ISBN 978 0 230 21959 5 (pbk),  21.99. Oxford University Press (OUP) 2687-2689 , DOI
Axford N & Little M You can customise it ‐ but just make sure the wheels stay on. Emerald 2-3 , DOI