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
• Gendered perspectives of yoga in the Key Stage 1 classroom: Qualitative content analysis indicates contrasting views of teachers and pupils, Wilkin, K., Thornton, C., Allen-Baker, G. 24 Feb 2026, In: PLoS One
• Media agenda-setting and framing tourist risks: what the FIFA World Cup 2026 can learn from Russia 2018, Batuev, M., Thornton, C., Wolfson, S. 9 Mar 2026, In: Soccer and Society
• Teacher-Led Yoga/Mindfulness in the Key Stage 1 Classroom. Survey of Educators Across North-East England, Wilkin, K., Thornton, C., Allen-Baker, G. 1 Feb 2026, In: Early Childhood Education Journal
• 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. 31 Dec 2025, In: Cogent Education
• 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
• 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
• 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

• 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