Íæż½ã½ã

Dr Karen Maxwell

Research Fellow

Institute for Social Marketing Íæż½ã½ã

Dr Karen Maxwell

Contact details

About me

Dr Karen Maxwell is a post-doctoral public health researcher with an interest in reducing social inequalities. Karen is a Research Fellow in the Institute for Social Marketing & Health, working across a range of projects on substance use and alcohol. Karen previously worked in substance use and sexual health research at Glasgow Caledonian University, leading the qualitative work packages of various projects. Most recently, Karen led the qualitative arm of a Scottish Government funded project on improving population health by increasing early diagnosis of Blood Borne Viruses (BBVs) in Scotland, integrating expert review of evidence with stakeholder focus group work.

Prior to her work at Íæż½ã½ã, Karen worked at the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit at the University of Glasgow for 10 years, conducting qualitative research across a broad range of public health topics, including sexual health, substance use, gender and health, parenting, and women's reproductive health. Her research interests focus on gender and social inequalities in health.

Research Interests: substance use, alcohol and societal harms, sexual health, women's health, vulnerable groups, qualitative methods, deliberative methods.

Outputs (15)

Article

Pornography Use Among Adults in Britain: A Qualitative Íæż½ã½ã of Patterns of Use, Motivations, and Stigma Management Strategies

Macdowall WG, Lewis R, Reid D, Mitchell KR, Bos¨® P¨¦rez R, Maxwell KJ, Attwood F, Gibbs J, Hogan B, Mercer CH, Sonnenberg P & Bonell C (2025) Pornography Use Among Adults in Britain: A Qualitative Íæż½ã½ã of Patterns of Use, Motivations, and Stigma Management Strategies. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 54, pp. 1589-1599. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-025-03112-7

Article

Development and Validation of a Brief Measure of Sexual Wellbeing for Population Surveys: The Natsal Sexual Wellbeing Measure (Natsal-SW)

Mitchell KR, Palmer MJ, Lewis R, Bos¨® P¨¦rez R, Maxwell KJ, Macdowall W, Reid D, Bonell C, Mercer CH, Sonnenberg P, Fortenberry JD & The Natsal-4 team (2025) Development and Validation of a Brief Measure of Sexual Wellbeing for Population Surveys: The Natsal Sexual Wellbeing Measure (Natsal-SW). The Journal of Sex Research, 62 (1), pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2023.2278530

Article

Sexting among British adults: a qualitative analysis of sexting as emotion work governed by ¡®feeling rules¡¯

Macdowall WG, Reid DS, Lewis R, Bos¨® P¨¦rez R, Mitchell KR, Maxwell KJ, Smith C, Attwood F, Gibbs J, Hogan B, Mercer CH, Sonnenberg P, Bonell C & Natsal-4 Team (2023) Sexting among British adults: a qualitative analysis of sexting as emotion work governed by ¡®feeling rules¡¯. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 25 (5), pp. 617-632. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2022.2080866

Article

Access to and quality of sexual and reproductive health services in Britain during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative interview study of patient experiences

Bos¨® P¨¦rez R, Reid D, Maxwell KJ, Gibbs J, Dema E, Bonell C, Mercer CH, Sonnenberg P, Field N & Mitchell KR (2023) Access to and quality of sexual and reproductive health services in Britain during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative interview study of patient experiences. BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health, 49, pp. 12-20. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsrh-2021-201413

Article

The Case for Targeted Parenting Interventions with Reference to Intergenerational Transmission of Parenting: Qualitative Evidence from Three Studies of Marginalised Mothers' and Fathers' Participation in Parenting Programmes

Buston K, O¡¯Brien R & Maxwell K (2022) The Case for Targeted Parenting Interventions with Reference to Intergenerational Transmission of Parenting: Qualitative Evidence from Three Studies of Marginalised Mothers' and Fathers' Participation in Parenting Programmes. Child Care in Practice, 28 (3), pp. 274-289. https://doi.org/10.1080/13575279.2020.1812533

Article

Intimate physical contact between people from different households during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods study from a large, quasi-representative survey (Natsal-COVID)

Sonnenberg P, Menezes D, Freeman L, Maxwell KJ, Reid D, Clifton S, Tanton C, Copas A, Riddell J, Dema E, Bos¨® P¨¦rez R, Gibbs J, Ridge M, Macdowall W & Unemo M (2022) Intimate physical contact between people from different households during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods study from a large, quasi-representative survey (Natsal-COVID). BMJ Open, 12, Art. No.: e055284. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-055284

Article

COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on social relationships and health

Long E, Patterson S, Maxwell K, Blake C, Bos¨® P¨¦rez R, Lewis R, McCann M, Riddell J, Skivington K, Wilson-Lowe R & Mitchell KR (2022) COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on social relationships and health. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 76, pp. 128-132. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2021-216690

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