We in the Department of Psychology are saddened to acknowledge the passing of our valued colleague, Emeritus Distinguished Professor Richie Poulton (CNZM, FRSNZ) in September 2023. He will be greatly missed.
Richie was a passionate supporter of his colleagues and collaborators, as well as a dedicated leader, supervisor and teacher within our Clinical Psychology programme. Our thoughts are with his family.
Former Director, Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health & Research Unit
Visit Professor Poulton's Profile
"In addition to leading the Dunedin Longitudinal Study, my research interests include mental health, gene X environment prediction of complex disorders, and psychosocial determinants of chronic physical disease. I also have a strong interest in promoting the uptake of evidence for policy and practice."
For more detailed information about the research that Richie has led in the Dunedin Longitudinal Study, you can visit the following website:
Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health & Development Research Unit (DMHDRU)
Selected Publications
Poulton, R., Moffitt, T. E., and Silva, P. A. (2015). The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study: Overview of the first 40 years, with an eye to the future . Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. Published online first 3 April 2015, DOI 10.1007/s00127-015-1048-8.
Danese, A., Caspi, A., Pariante, C. M., Taylor, A., Moffitt, T. E., and Poulton, R. (2007). Childhood maltreatment predicts adult inflammation: A life-course study. PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA), 104(4):1319-1324.
Caspi, A., McClay, J., Moffitt, T. E., Mill, J. S., Martin, J., Craig, I., Taylor, A., and Poulton, R. (2002). Role of genotype in the cycle of violence in maltreated children. Science, 297:851-854.
Poulton, R., Caspi, A., Milne, B. J., Thomson, W. M., Taylor, A., Sears, M. R., and Moffitt, T. E. (2002). Association between children's experience of socioeconomic disadvantage and adult health: a life-course study. Lancet, 360(9346):1640-1645.
Poulton, R., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., Cannon, M., Murray, R. M., and Harrington, H. L. (2002). Children's self-reported psychotic symptoms and adult schizophreniform disorder: A 15-year longitudinal study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57:1053-1058.
Recent Publications since 2014
GBD 2013 Disease and Injury Incidence and Prevalence Collaborators [including Poulton, R.] (2013). Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and YLDs for 301 acute and chronic diseases and injuries for 188 countries, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet, In press.
RIBURST Study Collaboration Writing Group (including Poulton, R). A new strategy to reduce global burden of stroke (based on the WSC presentation). Stroke, In press.
Moffitt T.E., Houts, R., Asherson, P., Harrington, H.L., Hogan, S., Meier, M., Polanczyk, G.V., Poulton, R., Ramrakha, S., Rohde, L.A., Caspi, A. Lacking evidence that adult ADHD is a childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorder: A 4-decade longitudinal cohort study. American Journal of Psychiatry, In Press.
Schaefer, J., Caspi, A., Belsky, D., Harrington, H., Houts, R., Israel, S., Levine, M., Sugden, K., Williams, B., Poulton, R., Moffitt, T. Early-life intelligence predicts midlife biological age. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, In Press.
Ramrakha, S., Fergusson, D.M., Horwood, L.J., Dalgard, F., Ambler, A., Kokaua J., Milne, B.J., and Poulton, R. Cumulative mental health consequences of acne: 23-year follow up in a general population birth cohort study. British Journal of Dermatology, In press.
Theodore, R., Tustin, K., Kiro, C., Gollop, M., Taumoepeau, M., Taylor N., Chee, K., Hunter J., and Poulton, R. Māori university graduates: indigenous participation in higher education. Higher Education Research & Development, In Press.
Parmar P., Krishnamurthi, R., Ikram, A., Hofman, A., Mirza, S., Varakin, Y., Kravchenko, M., Piradov. M., Thrift, A., Norrving, B., Wang, W., Mandel, D.K., Barker-Collo, S., Sahathevan, R., Davis, S., Saposnik, G., Kivipelto, M., Sindi, S., Bornstein, N.M., Giroud, M., Bejot, Y., Hankey, G., Brainin, M., Poulton R., Venkat Narayan, K.M., Freire A., Kokubo, Y., Weibers, D., Mensah, G., Azhagammal, S. Dhim, N.B., Barber, P.A., Pandian, J.D., Abbott, M., Rush, E., Hume, P., Hussein, T., Bhattacharjee, R., Purohit., M., and Feigin V.L. The Stroke RiskometerTM App: Validation of a data collection tool and stroke risk predictor. International Journal of Stroke, In press.
Goldman-Mellor, S., Caspi, A., Gregory, A, M., Harrington, H. L., Poulton, R., and Moffitt, T. E. Is insomnia associated with deficits in neuropsychological functioning? Evidence from a population-based study. Sleep, In press.
Belsky, D. W., Caspi, A., Israel, S., Blumenthal, J. A., Poulton, R., and Moffitt, T. E. (2015). Cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive function at midlife: Neuroprotection or Neuroselection? Annals of Neurology, 77(4): 607-617.
Hancox, R. J., Shin, H. H., Gray, A. R., Poulton, R., and Sears, M. R. (2015). Effects of quitting cannabis on respiratory symptoms. European Respiratory Journal, Published ahead of print 2 April 2015, doi: 10.1183/09031936.00228914.
Poulton, R., Moffitt, T. E., and Silva, P. A. (2015). The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study: Overview of the first 40 years, with an eye to the future. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. Published online first 3 April 2015, DOI 10.1007/s00127-015-1048-8.
Fergusson, D. M., McLeod, G. F. H., Horwood, L. J., Swain, N., Chapple, S., and Poulton, R. (2015). Life satisfaction and mental health problems (18 to 35 years). Psychological Medicine. First view article published 25 March 2015, doi:10.1017/S0033291715000422 (2015).
Parsons, M. J., Moffitt, T. E., Gregory, A. M., Goldman-Mellor, S., Nolan, P. M., Poulton, R., and Caspi, A. (2015). Social Jetlag, Obesity and Metabolic Disorder: Investigation in a Cohort Study. International Journal of Obesity. Advance online publication 20 January 2015; doi: 10.1038/ijo.2014.201.
Broadbent, J. M., Thomson, W. M., Ramrakha, S., Moffitt, T. E. , Zeng, J., Foster-Page, L. A., and Poulton, R. (2015). Community water fluoridation and intelligence: Prospective Study in New Zealand. American Journal of Public Health, 105(1): 72-76.
GBD Mortality and Causes of Death Collaborators [including Poulton, R]. (2015). Global, regional, and national levels of age-sex specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 240 causes of death, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Lancet, 385:L117-171.
Poulton, R.; Van Ryzin, M. J.; Harold, G. T.; Chamberlain, P.; Fowler, D.; Cannon, M.; Arseneault, L., and Leve, L. D. (2014). Effects of Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care on Psychotic Symptoms in Girls. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(12):1279-1287.
Goldman-Mellor, S., Gregory, A. M., Caspi, A., Harrington, H. L., Parsons, M. J., Poulton, R., and Moffitt, T. E. (2014). Mental health antecedents of early midlife insomnia: Evidence from a four-decade longitudinal study. Sleep, 37(11): 1767-1775.
Israel, S., Caspi, A., Belsky, D. W., Harrington, H. L., Hogan, S., Houts, R., Ramrakha, S., Sanders, S., Poulton, R., and Moffitt, T. E. (2014). Credit Scores, Cardiovascular Disease Risk and Human Capital. PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA), 111(48): 17087-17092.
Shalev, I., Caspi, A., Ambler, A., Belsky, D. W., Chapple, S., Cohen, H., Israel, S., Poulton, R., Ramrakha, S., Rivera, C., Sugden, K., Williams, B. S., Wolke, D., and Moffitt, T. E. (2014). Perinatal Complications and Aging Indicators by Midlife. Pediatrics, 134: e1315-e1323.
Belsky, D. W., Shalev, I., Sears, M. R., Hancox, R. J., Harrington, H. L., Houts, R., Moffitt, T. E., Sugden, K., Williams, B. S., Poulton, R., and Caspi, A. (2014). Is Chronic Asthma Associated with Shorter Leukocyte Telomere Length at Midlife? American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 190(4): 384-391.
Breslau, N., Koenen, K., Swanson, S., Agnew-Blais, M. A., Houts, R., Poulton, R., and Moffitt, T. E. (2014). Childhood maltreatment, juvenile disorders and adult post-traumatic stress disorder: A prospective investigation. Psychological Medicine, 44(09): 1937–1945.
Israel, S., Moffitt, T. E., Belsky, D. W., Hancox, R. J., Poulton, R., Roberts, B. W., Thomson, W. M., and Caspi, A. (2014). Translating Personality Psychology to Help Personalize Preventive Medicine for Young-Adult Patients. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(3): 484-498.
Shalev, I., Moffitt, T. E., Braithwaite, A. W., Danese, A., Fleming, N. I., Goldman-Mellor, S., Harrington, H. L., Houts, R., Israel, S., Poulton, R., Robertson, S. P., Sugden, K., Williams, B. S., and Caspi, A. (2014). Internalizing disorders and leukocyte telomere erosion: a prospective study of depression, generalized anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Molecular Psychiatry, 19(11): 1163-1170.
Goldman-Mellor, S., Caspi, A., Harrington, H. L., Hogan, S., Nada-Raja, S., Poulton, R., and Moffitt, T. E. (2014). Suicide attempt in young people: A signal for long-term healthcare and social needs. JAMA Psychiatry, 71(2): 119-127.
Meier, M. H., Caspi, A., Reichenberg, A., Keefe, R., Fisher, H. L., Harrington, H. L., Houts, R., Poulton, R., and Moffitt, T. E. (2014). Neuropsychological Decline in Schizophrenia from the Premorbid to Post-Onset Period: Evidence from a Population-Representative Longitudinal Study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 171(1): 91-101.
Caspi, A., Houts, R., Belsky, D. W., Goldman-Mellor, S., Harrington, H. L., Israel, S., Meier, M. H., Ramrakha, S., Shalev, I., Poulton, R., and Moffitt, T. E. (2014). The p Factor: One general psychopathology factor in the structure of psychiatric disorders? Clinical Psychological Science, 2(2): 119-137.