News & Activities

VIRRAC Dissemination Event in London - April 2024

In a prestigious event at PA Consulting’s offices in April, we marked the conclusion of our Virtual Reality Risks Against Children (VIRRAC) research project. In the dissemination and networking event, we shared our research findings from engaging with children and showcased evidence-based short videos aimed at raising awareness and offering safety tips for young people navigating the metaverse — an online realm where users interact in virtual spaces.

Working alongside exceptional colleagues and organisations made the experience enjoyable and fun! Thanks to colleagues Prof Elena Martellozzo, Prof Julia Davidson OBE, Paula Bradbury, Dr Ruby Farr, Boglarka Meggyesfalvi, Nina Jane Patel, Will Gardner OBE, and partners Kabuni and Childnet International. The project was funded by the REPHRAIN Centre, UKRI.

EUROCRIM Bucharest - September 2024

Part of the CATS Team participated at Eurocrim2024 Conference in Bucharest.

Four of our members participated in the Eurocrim2024 Conference in Bucharest, where we shared our latest research addressing key issues in cybercrime, juvenile justice, and online safety. Our contributions focused on advancing understanding in these areas, particularly with regard to innovative interventions and safeguarding practices. Below are some highlights from the presentations:

The Online Safety Bill & Content Moderators: Our “Invisible Risks” research explored the mental health implications for content moderators tasked with handling harmful online content, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The session also examined the broader effects of the UK’s Online Safety Bill, highlighting the need for structured support and coping mechanisms for these essential workers.

London Accommodation Pathfinder Project: This presentation focused on a pro-social programme designed to provide alternative pathways to custody for black and ethnic minority boys in London. The project aimed to demonstrate that early intervention through targeted, multi-disciplinary support can significantly reduce re-offending rates and improve mental health outcomes, offering a promising model for replication in other regions.

Victimisation in the Metaverse: Our “VIRRAC – Virtual Reality Risks Against Children” research project addressed the growing risks within virtual reality (VR) environments, particularly concerning children’s exposure to online harms such as sexual exploitation. The presentation underscored the urgent need for enhanced safety protocols and moderation in these immersive digital spaces to protect vulnerable users from potential abuse. We also presented the practical tools developed within the project, includingeducational short videos for young children

‘I Had No Choice’: Adult Neutralisation of Online Sexual Engagement with Children: This session explored the psychological processes that allow individuals to rationalise harmful online behaviours. Using neutralisation theory, the research provided critical insights into how adults justify online sexual interactions with minors, offering valuable implications for policy development and law enforcement.

We are grateful for the opportunity provided by the European Society of Criminology to present our research at Eurocrim2024 and engage with colleagues across the field.

Online child safety conference in Hungary and training the police - May 2024

Our team went to Hungary in May, to present research findings at its most prestigious university, the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), and to train police officers at the Hungarian National Police Headquarters.

The ‘Safeguarding Children in the Digital World’ conference took place in the historic main building of ELTE, focusing on online child protection, with the aim of facilitating international knowledge exchange on child safety, as well as the prevention and policing of online child sexual abuse.

Besides our colleagues, Prof Elena Martellozzo, Dr Jeffrey DeMarco, Dr Ruth Spence, Paula Bradbury, and Boglarka Meggyesfalvi, other renowned experts such as Dr István Ambrus, Dr Eszter Sarik, Dr Dorina Csalár LLM, and Dr Árpád Varga also shared insights from their valuable work.

The conference covered topics such as the impact of online pornography on young people and discussed new, emerging types of sexual offences in the online world. It showcased our work from the Invisible Risks research, generously funded by Tech Coalition & Safe Online, on the topic of secondary traumatisation of frontline workers exposed to online child sexual abuse material, and shared findings from the VIRRAC research, funded by REPHRAIN National Research Centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction and Adversarial Influence Online.

One of the highlights was the youth panel where young people’s voices could be heard directly about topics relevant to them concerning digital safeguarding.

We are grateful to the organisers, partners, and supporting organisations for providing the opportunity to share our work and make an impact internationally! We hope to return in the near future and collaborate more.

CATS newsletter - June 2024

We are delighted to present our most recent newsletter to outline some of the exciting research and training that CATS has been doing in recent months. As can be seen we have a number of ongoing and new projects, publishing findings and disseminating at conferences. We have a broad reach, despite relatively small staff size, encompassing issues around abuse and trauma in the digital world, affecting children, young people and workers. We are pleased to share this with you and welcome feedback. Toni Bifulco, (Director).

The Psychological Toll of the War in Ukraine - International trauma research panel on 13th September 2022

On the 13th September the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre hosted a virtual conference, in partnership with the Ambassadors for Ukraine, Poland and Israel in South Africa. It was well attended with over 200 people registered from all across the world. Professor Bifulco and Dr DeMarco from CATS presented at the conference, with positive responses from the audience. To view a recording of the conference please visit Live Recording – The Pychological Toll of the War in Ukraine. To view an article about the conference written by Professor Tali Nates and published in the South African Jewish Report please visit Conference Article.

CATS director Professor Toni Bifulco presents at the International Academy for Intercultural Research (IAIR) Rapperswil Switzerland 24-29 July 2022

CATS director Toni Bifulco presented as part of a symposium at the International Academy for Intercultural Research (IAIR) in Rapperswil Switzerland 24-29 July 2022. The symposium was entitled “Transgenerational Transmission of Socio-cultural and Psychological Trauma in Different Cultural Contexts” and the speakers were international from the Ukraine (Professor Zasiekina), Israel (Professor Pat-Horenczyk) and the USA (Dr Bojko) as well as Professor Bifulco. The sessions went well and indicated the long term effects of PTSD among victims and combatants and the factors which transmit to family members and cross generations. The conference was held in a wonderful location by lake Zurich in very hot weather!

CATS awarded funding from the Technology Coalition to develop an intervention for content moderators

We have been awarded funding from the Technology Coalition to investigate the impact of online child sexual abuse material on content moderators – individuals who are charged with constantly surveilling and removing traumatic images and videos of child sexual abuse. We will explore and quantify the issues facing content moderators and identify coping strategies currently used by content moderators and highlight what works – and does not work. Results of the study will be used to develop a pilot intervention to support and protect the mental health of content moderators. Visit The Technology Coalition Website for more details.

CPD training courses in interview assessment measures

We run short courses in assessment measures in the areas of Attachment, Parenting, and Child Abuse and Care. The interviews, adopted for adult, adolescent and child use, have been extensively published and used in research and are now available for professionals working in clinical and social care settings. Visit Lifespan Training website for details and upcoming dates.

'Life Events and Emotional Disorder Revisited'

Latest book written by members of CATS team explores the variety of events that can occur, their inherent characteristics and how they affect our lives and emotions, and in turn their impact on our mental health and wellbeing. It focuses on current social problems nationally and internationally, showing the reach of life events research including those linked to Covid-19. It also discusses trauma experiences and how they fit in the life events scheme.
Find the book here. (Enter code FLR40 at
checkout for 20% discount).

Personal reflections from a psychologist on COVID-19

We are all in the same boat. Or at least in our own boats, but in perilous seas with the current COVID-19 crisis. For some it may seem like being in a dingy, for others a houseboat or an Ark but none of us get to sail anywhere. COVID-19 has us housebound – either socially distancing, or for the elderly and infirm – in relative social isolation or lockdown. So how are we faring at this relatively early stage of lockdown? How do we pace ourselves for a long voyage? Can a psychological approach provide any aid? Read more…

Why are life events troubling? - article in The Psychologist

Ruth Spence, Lisa Kagan and Antonia Bifulco find it’s not a straightforward question…
Life happens. In Kipling’s words, the twin impostors of ‘triumph and disaster’, the best and worst the world can throw at us. Not all ‘life events’ are life-changing. At face value, many appear benign (leaving school, getting a job, moving in with a partner); whilst others seem inherently damaging (the death of someone close, a life-threatening illness, relationship break-up). Yet the extent to which a life event is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is not necessarily intuitive, and it may surprise you to know that psychologists often continue to act as if it is.

Online child sexual abuse during COVID-19. What do the experts say?

In this article Dr Elena Martellozzo, CATS member and Associate Professor and Criminologist at MDX, presents some of the key issues that were raised during the UKCIS webinar by high-level experts from research, policy and practice. The risk to children of online sexual abuse, alongside other forms of online harm, is likely to have increased as a result of isolation measures, with children being educated and spending more time online. Read more…

How the pandemic has made young people more vulnerable to risky online sexual trade

Online pornography is increasingly identified as an influence on children’s and young people’s sexual lives. Dr Elena Martellozzo and Paula Bradbury of the Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies at Middlesex University examine the impact that social media platform OnlyFans has had on vulnerable young people during the coronavirus pandemic and suggest measures to protect them from online harm. Read more…

Past activities

Professor Bifulco presented at The Knot webinar

CATS director Prof Antonia Bifulco was one of the contributors at the launch event of the ‘Knot – Responding to Poverty, Trauma & Multiple Disadvantage. Her talk was titled ‘Child trauma as a source of lifetime inequality – the impacts on mental health and violent behaviour’. Prof Bifulco has also produced a chapter for Knot publication: Poverty trauma and multiple disadvantage (from Revolving Doors charity).

In November Toni Bifulco was asked to provide a key note lecture on the issues of intergenerational transmission of war trauma for the Joahnnesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre, organised by the a group representing Polish enforced deportees to Siberia from WW2 who sought refuge in S Africa. CATS is using this event as the basis of a network of interested academics and survivor groups to apply for further conference funding and research into the topic of East European war survival and its intergenerational impacts on families and mental health. Conference recordings can be accessed on youtube (click on the picture for link).

6th South Africa Poland History Conference 2019

17 Nov Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre.
A remembrance for victims of the WWII organised by the ‘Syberacy’ organization – the descendants of children exported from Poland to Siberia in 1940 who found refuge in S Africa. Prof Bifulco’s keynote lecture ‘Trauma in the context of war: Reflections on Polish experience in WWII and its impacts across generations’ generated considerable interest and discussion.

Societa Italiana Di Psicologia Paediatrica conference 2019.

7-9 November, Palermo, Sicily
Toni Bifulco was invited to speak at this conference in paediatric psychology on: The consequences of child neglect in paediatric conditions. The conference had great international contributions to an important issue. With thanks to the organisers Prof Perricone, Prof Pelizzi and Dr Valentina Fortana.

CATS’ work with Poland: 'Keeping Children and Young People Safe Online' conference, Sept 2019

Dr Elena Martellozzo was invited to attend the conference and present the findings from research funded by the NSPCC and OCC on the impact online pornography may have on children and young people (Martellozzo et al, 2016). Elena was part of the session exploring the “harmful effect of Pornography and Sexting”. The event was attended by practitioners working with children and was funded but the Empowering Children Foundation, Warsaw. Elena and the CATS team will continue to engage with the foundation and explore possibilities to collaborate.

Attachment Style Interview training coming to Australia

CATS rolled out their ASI training in Australia with Secure Base Solutions throughout 2019. We are delighted with this new partnership and will be pleased to see the attachment interview used in child protection and related services in Australia.

CATS' Erasmus & a visit to University of Warsaw

CATS staff were awarded Erasmus+ staff mobility grants to underpin a bi-lateral agreement between Middlesex and University of Warsaw. Prof Bifulco, Drs Martellozzo, Oskis and Demarco travelled to Warsaw in April 2019 and attended a one-day seminar and discussions with IPSiR interdisciplinary policy and other departments with the aim of furthering our research and policy interests in harms to children and families in both countries.
Read more.

Prof Julia Davidson contributes to government drive for internet safety

CATS co-director Julia Davidson, Prof Sonia Livingstone, LSE, and Dr Joanne Bryce, Uni of Central Lancashire have been commissioned by the government to produce a report detailing how young people use the internet, the dangers they face and the issues with safeguarding them. The report will be part of a new Internet Safety Strategy aimed at making Britain the safest country in the world for children and young people to be online.

New CATS project in the IoM: neglect and related issues in Safegurding

We undertook the ‘Assessing Care’ project in the Isle of Man throughout 2018. We are happy to report that this partnership between Isle of Man Safeguarding Board, St Christopher’s Fellowship and CATS sucessfully enhance assessment of neglect and related issues on the island.

CATS and Europol report sheds light on youth hacking - project report published

Led by CATS co-director Prof Julia Davidson, the focus of the research was on adolescent hackers and associated behaviour. Prof Davidson says the penalties for involvement in cybercrime are not always understood by young people. “Some very IT literate and bright young people are drawn into hacking without realising the consequences should they be caught…”

Prof Julia Davidson on Children’s Commissioner's special panel

Children’s Commissioner for has made eleven recommendations to help better protect children from intra-familial sexual abuse based on the findings of a panel that included CATS co-Director Prof Julia Davidson. Its research found that only one in eight children who are sexually abused are identified by professionals because the police and social services are geared towards children self-referring or reporting abuse.

CLEAR project in the media - QED podcast on resilience

CATS co-director Prof Toni Bifulco participated in a podcast series on resilience, discussing issues of risk and resilience to stress in everyday life and drawing on research into various factors, such as attachment styles, support and coping strategies. She also outlined her team’s latest ESRC project ‘Stress Online’ a computerised assessment of life events which provides a relatively objective assessment of recent stressful experience.