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Dr Antonia Bifulco

Professor in Lifespan Psychology and Social Science, Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies, Kingston University.

Dr Antonia Bifulco Areas of expertise

Find out more about Dr Antonia Bifulco

Overview

 

Psychologist Prof Bifulco is joint director of the Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies (CATS www.cats-rp.org.uk) at Kingston University and heads the Lifespan Research Group. Following a 30-year career at Royal Holloway, University of London, she came to Kingston in 2011. CATS is the UK's only multi-disciplinary centre for research and training on abuse and trauma, and has three divisions - offending and criminal justice, lifespan health and social care, and legal and ethical issues. Work carried out here focuses on abuse and trauma from childhood to old age, for both victims and offenders, and is carried out alongside professionals from a range of agencies and academic disciplines.

At Kingston Professor Bifulco is expanding on work she has already carried out, which investigated social and psychological factors influencing mental health, including the effects of childhood abuse and neglect in later life. As part of this work she has developed interview schedules designed to elicit reliable information on early abuse, later adversity and attachment which are now widely used by social workers, psychologists and others.  She advises and trains health and social care practitioners on assessment issues around attachment and childhood abuse. She also undertakes evaluative research with local services. (see www.lifespanresearch.org.uk)

She is the holder of the Lifespan Collection - extensive interviews with 500 family members about their life histories and psychological disorder. Opportunities for archiving this Collection with access for other researchers is underway  (www.lifespancollection.org.uk).

Professor Bifulco is an editorial reviewer for a host of journals, including Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry; British Journal of Psychiatry; Journal of Adolescence; Paediatrics; Attachment & Human Development; British Journal of Clinical Psychology; Child Abuse and Neglect, Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy. She is also on the editorial board of the European Journal of Psychotraumatology.

 

Qualifications

Year gained Subject
1985 PhD in Social Science, Bedford College, London University.
1978 Diploma in Sociology, Bedford College, London University.
1976 BA (Hons), Psychology/Philosophy, Exeter University.

Career Highlights

Year Position held
2011 Professor in Lifespan Psychology and Social Science, Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies, Kingston University.
2009 - Co-director of Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies (CATS)
2005 - 2010 Professor in Health and Social Care, Director Lifespan Research Group, Royal Holloway, University of London.
2002 - 2005 Reader in Mental Health, Director Lifespan Research Group, Department of Health and Social Care, Royal Holloway, University of London.
1998 - 2002 Senior Research Fellow - Director Lifespan Research Group, Royal Holloway, University of London.
1992 - 1998 Senior Research Fellow and Research Programme Manager, Socio-medical Research Centre, Royal Holloway, University of London.
1986 - 1992 Research Officer, Social Research Unit, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College.
1980 - 1986 Research Assistant, Bedford College, University of London.
1976 - 1997 Group worker: Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association, Hackney, London.

Research

Research publications (selected):   

  • Davidson J., & Bifulco A. (2010) Investigating police practice in the UK: Achieving Best Evidence in work with young victims of abuse. Pakistan Journal of Criminology, 1:19-46.
  • Bifulco, A, Moran P Jacobs C & Bunn A (2009) Problem partners and parenting: Exploring linkages with maternal insecure attachment style and her neglect/abuse of children. Attachment & Human Development, 11, 69-85.
  • Bifulco A, Jacobs, C, Bunn, A, Thomas G & Irving K (2008) The Attachment Style Interview (ASI) as an assessment of support capacity: exploring its use for adoption-fostering assessment. Adoption and Fostering, 32: 33-45.
  • Whiting, M., Scammell A & Bifulco A (2008) The Health Specialist Initiative. Professionals view of partnership initiative between Health and social Care for Safeguarding. Qualitative Social Work, 7: 99-117
  • Bifulco A (2008) Risk and resilience in young Londoners. In (Eds, D. Brom, R Pat-Horenczyk & J, Ford) Treating traumatised children: Risk, resilience and recovery. Routledge
  • Bifulco A & Moran P (2007) Il Bambino Maltrattato. Le radici della depressione nel trauma e nell'abuso infantile. Casa Editrice Astrolabia. Rome.  (Italian edition of Wednesday's Child, Routledge, London, New York, 1998)
  • Bunn, A, , Bifulco A Lorenc, A & Robinson N (2007) Solutions on Stress (SOS): programmes, packages and products for helping teenagers. Young Consumer, vol 8 (1); 29-35
  • Moran, P, Jacobs C, Bunn A & Bifulco A (2007) Multi-agency working: Implications for an early intervention social work team. Child & Family Social Work. Child and Family Social work, 12 (2), 143-151.
  •  Figueiredo B, Bifulco A, Pacheco A, Costa R, Magarinho R (2006)Teenage pregnancy, Attachment Style and Depression: A comparison of teenage and adult pregnant women in a Portuguese series. Attachment and Human Development, 8: .
  • Bifulco A. (2006) Childhood experience and sexual offending - the use of the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse (CECA) interview in forensic psychology research and practice. L'evaluation diagnostique des agresseurs sexuel. (Ed Thierry Pham) Editions Mardaga, Belgium.  123-138
  • Bifulco A, J-H Kwon, Jacobs C, Moran PM & Bunn A.(2006) Adult attachment style as mediator of childhood neglect/abuse and adult depression and anxiety. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 41: 796-805
  • Davidson J, Bifulco A, Thomas G & Ramsay M (2006). Child victims of sexual abuse: Children's experience of the investigative process in the criminal justice system. Journal of Practice,18¨247-263
  • Cohen P, Kasen S, Bifulco A, Andrews H, Gordon K (2005) The accuracy of adult narrative reports of developmental trajectories. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 29 (5) 345-355
  • Bifulco, A, Bernazzani O, Moran PM & Jacobs C (2005) Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA.Q) Validation in a community series. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 44: 563-581
  • Bifulco A, Figueiredo B, Guedeney N, Gorman L, Hayes S, Muzik M, Gatigny- Dally E, Valoriani V, Kammerer M, Henshaw C & the TCS-PND group. (2004)Maternal attachment style and depression associated with childbirth; preliminary results from European/US cross-cultural study. British Journal of Psychiatry 184(suppl 46), s31-s37
  • Bernazzani O & Bifulco A (2003). Motherhood as a vulnerability factor in major depression: The role of negative pregnancy experiences. Social Science and Medicine, 56: 1249-1260.
  • Bifulco, A, Mahon J, Kwon J-H, Moran PM & Jacobs C (2003). The Vulnerable Attachment Style Questionnaire: An interview-derived measure of relationship styles predictive of depression. Psychological Medicine, 33, 1099-1110
  • Moran, PM, Bifulco A, Ball C, Jacobs C & Benaim K (2002) Exploring psychological abuse in childhood. I: Developing a new interview scale. (Bulletin of Menninger Institute, 66: 213-240.
  • Bifulco, A, Moran PM, Baines, R, Bunn A & Stanford K (2002). Exploring psychological abuse in childhood: II: Association with other abuse and adult clinical depression. (Bulletin of Menninger Institute, 66: 241-258
  • Bifulco A (2002) Attachment style measurement - A clinical and epidemiological perspective.Attachment and Human Development, 4: 180- 188
  • Bifulco A., Moran PM, Ball C, Jacobs C, Baines R, Bunn A & Cavagin J Childhood adversity, parental vulnerability and disorder: Examining intergenerational transmission of risk. Journal Child Psychology & Psychiatry,43, 1075-1086]
  • Bifulco A, Moran P, Ball C & Bernazzani O (2002) Adult Attachment Style : Its relationship to clinical depression. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 37: 50-59
  • Bifulco A, Moran P, Ball C & Lillie A (2002) Adult Attachment Style II. Its relationship to psychosocial depressive-vulnerability. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 37: 60-67.

 

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Conference Highlights

Antonia is a seasoned conference presenter.

Professional Body Membership

British Psychological Society (BPS) - Associate Fellow, Chartered Psychologist, Chartered Scientist.

UK and European Society for Trauma and Stress Studies (ESTSS).

British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (BAPSCAN).

Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

   

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