Professor Hunter's research takes place at the intersection between mental health and developmental psychology, and applies theoretical models of stress and coping within a social ecological framework to understand the psychological and social wellbeing of children and young people. At GCU, he leads the Child and Adolescent Health research group, and is a member of the Substance Use research group too. He is an Associate Editor at both Stigma and Health and the International Journal of Bullying Prevention.

Current research interests include violence reduction, loneliness, and mental illness stigma and involve collaborations with Prof Steve Houghton, Prof Pam Qualter, Dr Bryan McCann, the Mental Health Foundation, See Me, and Scottish Action for Mental Health.

Current student collaborators are:

• 2024- Ananya Singh and Ananyaa Rodricks Terence, both of whom are looking into mental illness stigma.
• 2023- Ashley Brown, Lyyana Damanhoori, and Jeeva Johnson are working on DPsych projects relating to mental health stigma among minority ethnic communities in the UK.
• 2022- Christy Sandbergen and Suzy Klein are working on DPsych projects which will consider resilience as an outcome of therapy, LGBTQ+ stigma, and experiences of loneliness.
• 2021- Annamae Burrows (PhD funded by GCU). This PhD will focus on how young men ‘do friendship’ and cope with loneliness, with and without alcohol.  [Lead Supervisor: Prof Carol Emslie]
• 2021- Lea Delfmann (PhD funded by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network as part of the HealthCascade project; based at Ghent University in Belgium). Lea will develop, implement, and evaluate a school-based intervention to promote healthy behaviour in adolescents using a co-creation approach. [Lead Supervisor: Dr Maïté Verloigne]
• 2020- Rachel Taylor (PhD co-funded by the SGSSS and the Mental Health Foundation) examining children and young people's mental health, mental illness stigma experiences, and how these relate to peer-victimisation.  [Lead Supervisor for Rachel: Prof Paul Flowers, based at University of Strathclyde]