Biographical sketch

After finishing a bachelor in psychology and political sciences, I decided to follow the research master in developmental psychology at Leiden University. I graduated in 2011 on a study investigating the neural correlates of anxiety and depression in adolescents. After graduating, I first gained some experience in clinical work in a private clinical practice for children and adolescents, where I still work one day a week. In December 2011 I started my PhD-project under supervision of Elske Salemink, Reinout Wiers and Pier Prins.

Research project

My research focuses on the prevention of anxiety and depression and increasing emotional resilience in adolescents by training cognitive processes. We use computer training programs aimed at modifying attention bias and interpretation bias and increasing cognitive control. The effects of these training programs on cognitive processes as well as emotional functioning of healthy and at-risk adolescents will be investigated in two large scale studies. The first study investigates the working mechanisms and efficacy of the various training paradigms. In the second study, the effective training paradigms will be combined into a prevention program "Always look on the bright side of life", and the effectiveness, implementation and cost-effectiveness will be examined.

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