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 Nicola Cogan, Dr Bryan McCann, the Mental Health Foundation, See Me, and the Scottish Association for Mental Health.

Current student collaborators are:

• 2022- Carol-Ann Chapman, Christy Sandbergen, and Suzy Klein are working on DPsych project which will consider resilience as an outcome of therapy, LGBTQ+ stigma, experiences of loneliness among people with autism, and mental health stigma and help-seeking among the performing arts community.
• 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]
• 2021- Giovanna Cameron and Rachel McCartney are working collaboratively on DPsych projects focussing on the stigma of suicide. Victoria Maddox's DPsych project is focussed on treatment for substance use. 
• 2020- Rebecca Johnson and Rachel Taylor (PhDs co-funded by the Mental Health Foundation). The studies relate to children and young people's mental health, including mental illness stigma experiences of adolescents, how these can be assessed, and how they relate to peer-victimisation.  [Lead Supervisor for Rachel: Dr Nicola Cogan, based at University of Strathclyde]
• 2020- Edith O’Dowd, Pollyanna Valente and Sara Mackey are working collaboratively on DPsych projects focussing on stigma relating to substance use.
• 2020- Robert Barrett and Fern Copland are working on DPsych projects focussing on mental health in the perinatal period.