Claire's work focuses on why people are different from one another. In particular Claire is interested in what factors influence our mental health and wellbeing across the life course. Claire uses a range of techniques to investigate individual differences, including genetically informative studies that tell us about the role of nature (genes) and nurture (environments) in creating these differences between us. For example, Claire has done work on how genetic and environmental influences may change across development, in different environmental contexts, and in response to interventions.

A key new direction in Claire's research is the use of information from social media platforms, and what benefits and challenges social media use has for mental health and wellbeing. As well as the importance of considering the ethical perspective of using digital technologies to understand, explore and promote mental health.