Dr Claire Thornton

Claire joined the university in February 2017. She has worked in the higher education sector for over 15 years while studying part time for both an MSc in Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology (Staffordshire University) and a PhD (University of Derby). Claire has coached a number of sports including netball, football and badminton and has worked with athletes from a range of backgrounds/abilities. Her teaching interests centre on sport and exercise psychology and research methods. 

Claire’s thesis focused on pain responses in contact and non-contact athletes. Her work explores the mechanisms for differences in pain tolerance, perception and coping between athlete groups. She has explored pain coping styles, pain bothersomeness, challenge and threat appraisals and performance whilst in pain. She is interested in the attentional demands of pain and the psychological factors that influence pain reporting. 

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Athletes and Experimental Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Thornton, C., Sheffield, D., Baird, A. 1 Jun 2024, In: Journal of Pain
• The current state of concussion knowledge and attitudes in British American Football, Travis, E., Scott-Bell, A., Thornton, C. 2 Jan 2024, In: Physician and Sportsmedicine
• The effects of school-based yoga on the executive functioning skills of children between three and seven years of age. A meta-analysis of existing research, Wilkin, K., Allen-Baker, G., Thornton, C. Oct 2024, In: Mental Health and Physical Activity
• A national survey of clubs medical provision and facilities in BUCS American Football 2019- 2020, Travis, E., Scott-Bell, A., Thornton, C. 1 Oct 2023, In: Irish Journal of Medical Science
• 'If lecturers are at home, they can’t tell their kids to shut up’: University student engagement with blended learning during Covid-19: A mixed methods study, Thornton, C., Peart, D., Hicks, K., McCullogh, N., Allen, G. 21 Apr 2023, In: Journal of Further and Higher Education
• Investigation into the transition to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, between new and continuing undergraduate students, Briggs, M., Thornton, C., McIver, V., Rumbold, P., Peart, D. 1 Jun 2023, In: Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education
• Concussion Reporting and Safeguarding Policy Development in British American Football: An Essential Agenda, Travis, E., Thornton, C., Scott-Bell, A. 4 Jun 2021, In: Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
• Exposure to contact sports results in maintained performance during experimental pain, Thornton, C., Sheffield, D., Baird, A. Jan 2021, In: Journal of Pain
• ‘Don’t touch my bag’: The Role of Superstition in Professional Male Boxing, Allen-Baker, G., Thornton, C., Riby, H. 1 Mar 2020, In: The Sports Psychologist
• Pain and athletes: Contact sport participation and performance in pain, Sheffield, D., Thornton, C., Jones, M. 1 Jul 2020, In: Psychology of Sport and Exercise

• Benjamin Morris The Role of Superstitious Rituals on Injury-Avoidance Behaviours in Contact Sports Start Date: 01/10/2021
• David Power Pain in Elite Rugby Union Players and Rehabilitation Implications Start Date: 01/10/2021 End Date: 17/07/2024

• Sport PhD January 31 2018
• Sport MSc July 01 2010
• Member British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) 2017