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
• Correction: Teacher-Led Yoga/Mindfulness in the Key Stage 1 Classroom. Survey of Educators Across North-East England (Early Childhood Education Journal, (2025), 10.1007/s10643-025-01903-0), Wilkin, K., Thornton, C., Allen-Baker, G. 7 Jul 2025, In: Early Childhood Education Journal
• Lifting the lid on American football equipment: understanding current knowledge and safe practise of equipment use in British American Football, Travis, E., Jones, A., Jones, G., Thornton, C. 1 Dec 2025, In: Sport Sciences for Health
• Teacher-Led Yoga/Mindfulness in the Key Stage 1 Classroom. Survey of Educators Across North-East England, Wilkin, K., Thornton, C., Allen-Baker, G. 25 Mar 2025, In: Early Childhood Education Journal
• Understanding the Use of Superstitious Rituals in Sports People, Morris, B., Thornton, C., Neave, N., Allen, G. 17 Sep 2025, In: Journal of Sports Sciences
• University course choice: Views and experiences of undergraduate sport and physiotherapy students from a United Kingdom higher education institution, Hibbs, A., Thornton, C., Hayes, P., Johns, K., Bruce-Martin, C., McCullogh, N., Peart, D., Baker, K., Rumbold, P. 27 Nov 2025, In: Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education
• Athletes and Experimental Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Thornton, C., Sheffield, D., Baird, A. 1 Jun 2024, In: Journal of Pain
• Barriers to using yoga and mindfulness in the Key Stage 1 classroom: perspectives of educators working in faith and non-faith state schools across North East England, Wilkin, K., Thornton, C., Allen, G. 25 Dec 2024, In: Cogent Education
• 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

• Benjamin Morris Understanding the use of Superstitious Rituals (SRs) in contact sports, and their relevance to injury prevalence Start Date: 01/10/2021 End Date: 15/10/2025
• Clare Norman Parental Emotional Support and the Persistence of their Daughters in their Traditionally Male Team Sports Start Date: 01/03/2025

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