Dr Nadia Mantovani is a sociologist of health working primarily in the field of mental health and trauma.
Nadia research interest include the marginalisation of younger and older adults and how they experience societal marginalization, and how it impacts upon their lives. She is interested in human agency and the forging of identities of marginalised individuals whilst unearthing underlying issues of power related to marginalisation. Conceptually, her work is around resilience, moral agency, identity work and intersectionality. In her work Nadia aims to take a non-pathologising stand to understanding marginalised individuals’ own viewpoint.
The main areas of research include gender-based violence, the mental health harms of intimate partner violence on women, the responses to intimate partner violence in secondary mental health services, the adverse effect of child abuse on adult psychiatric service users, and interventions delivered to children and families with experience of domestic violence.
Nadia’s current projects involve investigating: the feasibility of a group treatment approach for people with functional cognitive disorders (FCD); the evaluation of a specialized domestic violence service in secondary mental health services; interventions for parents with mental health needs and children identified at risk of abuse.
Dr Mantovani has worked at St George’s since October 2007, working interdisciplinary with a variety of researchers and survivor researchers. In 2010 she was awarded her PhD in Sociology of Health and Illness which was entitled “Identify work, moral accountability and good mothering practices in narratives of black teenage mothers”.
Prior to 2007 Nadia has worked as a Research Assistant in the Department of Health and Social Care at Royal Holloway University of London, where she subsequently undertook her PhD. She has worked as a community-oriented medicine course coordinator in the Department of Public Health at University College London (UCL).
Nadia is bilingual - Italian is her native tongue. She learned the English language when she came to London and attended English language schools. After mastering the English language Nadia read Social Policy & Administration at the London School of Economics (LSE), obtained her Masters’ degree in Social Research Methods at Surrey University, and was awarded a PhD at the Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL).
Adams H., Blackburn S., and Mantovani N. (2021). Psychological resilience for climate change transformation: relational, differentiated and situated perspectives. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 50, 303-309.
Mantovani N., and Smith J. G. (2021). A retrospective study examining the adverse effect
of childhood abuse among adult psychiatric service users in Britain. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 30, 1093–110.
Taylor Lever B., Howard L.M., Jackson K., Johnson S., Mantovani N., Nath S., Sokolova A.Y. and Sweeney A. (2021). Mums Alone: Exploring the Role of Isolation and Loneliness in the Narratives of Women Diagnosed with Perinatal Depression, Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10, 2271.
Mantovani N., Gillard S., Mezey G. and Clare F. (2020). Exploring resilience in children and young people in care participating in a peer-mentoring relationship. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 30(S2), 380–390
Mantovani N., Evans C., (2019). Drug use among British Bangladeshis in London: a macro-structural perspective focusing on disadvantages contributing to individuals’ drug use trajectories and engagement with treatment services. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 26 (2), 125-132.
Sweeney A., Perôt C., Callard F., Adenden V., Mantovani N., and Goldsmith L. (2019). Out of the silence: towards grassroots and trauma-informed support for people who have experienced sexual violence. Journal of Epidemiology and Psychiatric Services, 28(6), 598-602.
Dowling S., Mantovani N., Hollins S. (2018). “I've had a wake-up call and his name is my son” Developing aspiration and making positive choices - does government policy acknowledge young parents' perspectives? Families, Relationships and Societies, 9(2), 187-206.
Mantovani N. and Ruth A. (2017) “Improving responses to domestic violence in secondary mental health services in Wandsworth, South West London. A mixed methods study to assess the recorded incidents of domestic violence and abuse (DVA) in secondary mental health services and to explore stakeholders’ views on strategies to address DVA. London: St. George’s University of London. January 2017. ISBN: 978-1-5272-0938-1.
Group treatment for Functional Cognitive Disorders - feasibility study (Co-investigator, National Institute for Health Research, Research for Patient Benefit) April 2022 – March 2024.
Support and interventions for parents with mental health needs and children identified as at risk of abuse: A systematic review and thematic synthesis of parent and practitioner experiences
(Co-investigator, Violence Abuse & Mental Health Network VAMHN, UK Research and Innovation) January 2022 October 2022.
The relationship between loneliness, social isolation, depression and mother-infant bonding in the perinatal period: a collaborative, mixed methods study (Co-investigator Loneliness & Social Isolation in Mental Health Research Network) June 2020 – March 2021.
What difference does it make? An intersectional framework to measure mental health harms in women and men associated with different thresholds of violence and abuse: a systematic review and meta-analysis (Principal Investigator, Violence Abuse & Mental Health Network VAMHN, UK Research and Innovation) March 2020 – November 2021.
Improving responses to domestic violence in secondary mental health services in Wandsworth (Principal Investigator, NHS Wandsworth Clinical Commissioning Group) January 2015 – March 2016.
Developing and piloting a peer mentoring intervention to reduce teenage pregnancy in looked after children and care leavers (Co-investigator, National Institute for Health Research, HTA). March 2011 – March 2014.
Improving Mental Health and Well-Being in Black Minority Groups: A Participatory Action Research Study (Prime Investigator, South West London Mental Health Trust) July 2012 – July 2013.
Exploring Aspirations: Choice and parenthood in young people - a case study (Co-investigator, Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales) July 2010 – July 2011.
Dr Mantovani has a range of teaching roles including Psychiatry Research Project for BSc Biomedical Sciences, and a personal tutor for medical students.