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Dr. S. (Sophia) Backhaus

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Programme group: Forensic Child and Youth Care
Photographer: Malcome Cochrane Photography
Visiting address
  • Nieuwe Achtergracht 127
  • Room number: D9.00
Postal address
  • Postbus 15776
    1001 NG Amsterdam
Contact details
  • Research

    Sophia Backhaus works as an Assistant Professor at the Research Institute of Child Development and Education. 

    Her research focuses on the effectiveness of interventions to reduce violence against children, and the measurement of physical and emotional violence perpetrated by parents. She bridges psychology, public health, and intervention research, and focuses largely on evidence syntheses (systematic reviews, traditional and individual participant data meta-analysis). 

    Sophia Backhaus' work directly impacted policy recommendations including those formulated in the WHO Parenting Intervention Guidelines (https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240065505). 

    Sophia Backhaus received her DPhil (2023) in Social Intervention and Policy-Evaluation from the University of Oxford, and her M.Sc. (2017) in Psychology from the University of Konstanz. She visited during her studies the University of Copenhagen, the University of Haifa, and the Eötvös Loránd University.

     

    Key publications: 

    Backhaus, S., Leijten, P., Meinck, F., & Gardner, F. (2022). Different instruments, same content? A systematic comparison of child maltreatment and harsh parenting instruments. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15248380221134290. 

    Backhaus, S., Leijten, P., Jochim, J., Melendez-Torres, G. J., & Gardner, F. (2023). Effects over time of parenting interventions to reduce physical and emotional violence against children: a systematic review and meta-analysis. EClinicalMedicine, 60.

    Backhaus, S., Gardner, F., Schafer, M., Melendez-Tores, G.J., Knerr, W., & Lachman, J.M. (2023). WHO Guidelines on parenting interventions to prevent maltreatment and enhance parent-child relationships with children aged 0– 17 years: Report of the systematic reviews of evidence. Geneva: World Health Organization.

    Alemán-Díaz, A. Y., Backhaus, S., Siebers, L. L., Chukwujama, O., Fenski, F., Henking, C. N., ... & Weber, M. W. (2018). Child and adolescent health in Europe: monitoring implementation of policies and provision of services. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 2(12), 891-904.

  • Publications

    2024

    • Cuartas, J., Salazar, A., Backhaus, S., Little, M. T., McCoy, D., Yoshikawa, H., Bass, M., Metheny, N., & Knaul, F. (2024). Strategies to Prevent Violence Against Children in the Home: A Systematic Review of Reviews. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15248380241247018. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380241247018
    • European Parenting Program Research Consortium, Laas Sigurðardóttir, L. B., & van Rooij, F. B. (2024). Study Preregistration: Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis: Individual Differences in Mediators of Parenting Program Effects on Disruptive Behavior. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 63(4), 464-467. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2023.11.005

    2023

    • Backhaus, S., Leijten, P., Jochim, J., Melendez-Torres, G. J., & Gardner, F. (2023). Effects over time of parenting interventions to reduce physical and emotional violence against children: a systematic review and meta-analysis. EClinicalMedicine, 60, Article 102003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102003
    • Kjøbli, J., Melendez-Torres, G. J., Gardner, F., Backhaus, S., Linnerund, S., & Leijten, P. (2023). Research review: Effects of parenting programs for children’s conduct problems on children’s emotional problems: a network meta-analysis. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 64(3), 348-356. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13697

    2022

    • Backhaus, S., Leijten, P., Meinck, F., & Gardner, F. (2022). Different instrument, same content? A systematic comparison of child maltreatment and harsh parenting instruments. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380221134290

    2020

    • Olusanya, B. O., Wright, S. M., Nair, M. K. C., Boo, N. Y., Halpern, R., Kuper, H., Abubakar, A. A., Almasri, N. A., Arabloo, J., Arora, N. K., Backhaus, S., Berman, B. D., Breinbauer, C., Carr, G., de Vries, P. J., del Castillo-Hegyi, C., Eftekhari, A., Gladstone, M. J., Hoekstra, R. A., ... Kassebaum, N. J. (2020). Global burden of childhood epilepsy, intellectual disability, and sensory impairments. Pediatrics, 146(1), Article e20192623. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-2623

    2018

    • Weber, M. W., Backhaus, S., Chukwujama, O., Fenski, F., Henking, C., Schatte, L., & Aleman-Diaz, A. Y. (2018). Pädiatrische Versorgungskonzepte in Europa. Monatsschrift fur Kinderheilkunde, 166(2), 131-140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00112-017-0426-6

    2023

    2018

    • Alemán-Díaz, A. Y., Backhaus, S., Siebers, L. L., Chukwujama, O., Fenski, F., Henking, C. N., Kaminska, K., Kuttumuratova, A., & Weber, M. W. (2018). Child and adolescent health in Europe: monitoring implementation of policies and provision of services. The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, 2(12), 891-904. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(18)30286-4

    2022

    2020

    2018

    Prize / grant

    • Backhaus, S. (2023). Foundations – Research grant.
    • Backhaus, S. (2023). The impact of violence victimisation: An umbrella review of meta-analyses.
    • Backhaus, S. (2018). Wolfson-Isaiah Berlin Scholarship.
    • Backhaus, S. (2018). Clarendon Scholarship.
    • Backhaus, S. (2018). ESRC Grand Union DTP Scholarship.

    Membership / relevant position

    • Backhaus, S. (2021-2023). Member of Departmental Ethics Committee, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, Oxford, England..
    • Backhaus, S. (2020-2023). Member of Guideline Development Group, World Health Organization.
    • Backhaus, S. (2020-2022). Evidence Team Member of WHO Global Guideline on Parenting, World Health Organization.
    • Backhaus, S. (2018-). Member, International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.

    Talk / presentation

    • Gardner, F. (invited speaker) & Backhaus, S. (invited speaker) (5-10-2023). Evidence & Policy: Exploring the WHO Parenting Intervention Guidelines to reduce child maltreatment & enhance parent-child relationships, Global Parenting Initative.
    • Backhaus, S. (invited speaker) (18-4-2023). Preventing child maltreatment: The evidence of parenting interventions, Danish child maltreatment network.
    • Gardner, F. (invited speaker) & Backhaus, S. (invited speaker) (14-4-2023). WHO Guideliens on parenting interventions - The evidence base for parenting interventions, World Health Organization.
    • Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2023). The effectiveness of INSPIRE strategies on the prevention of violence against children at home: A systematic overview of reviews, ISPCAN Edinburgh 2023.
    • Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2023). Effectiveness of parenting interventions in humanitarian settings - an updated systematic review, ISPCAN Edinburgh 2023.
    • Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2023). Equity effects of parenting interventions to reduce violence against children: Using traditional meta-analysis and Individual participant data meta-analysis, ISPCAN Edinburgh 2023.
    • Backhaus, S. (invited speaker) (10-10-2022). Evidence of parenting intervention effectiveness across the globe, Slovenian symposium on parenting interventions.
    • Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2022). Different instrument, same content? A systematic comparison of child maltreatment and harsh parenting instruments, ISPCAN Estonia 2022.
    • Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2022). The effectiveness of parenting interventions to reduce physical and emotional violence against children - A global systematic review and meta-analyses of five decades of research, ISPCAN Tallin 2022.
    • Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2022). Different instrument, same content? A systematic comparison of child maltreatment and harsh parenting instruments, VNOP Conference 2022, Utrecht.
    • Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2021). Can parenting interventions reduce parenting behaviour that places children at risk for child maltreatment? A systematic review and robust variance estimation meta-analysis, Vereniging voor Nederlandse OntwikkelingsPsychologie conference 2021.
    • Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2021). Child maltreatment prevention in parenting interventions - Effectiveness and instruments, ISPCAN Milan 2021.
    • Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2021). Unpacking differential effects of parenting interventions to reduce child maltreatment - Are we increasing disparities? A global systematic review and meta-regression, Society for Prevention Research 29th Annual Meeting.
    • Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2021). Parenting interventions in humanitarian settings - Can we reduce child maltreatment?, The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action Annual Congress.
    • Backhaus, S. (invited speaker) (2019). Report from WHO Europe Expert meeting on Nurturing Care and ECD 2018, European Confederation of Primary Care Pediatricians.
    • Gardner, F. (speaker) & Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2019). Embedding a parenting intervention with the local public health system for low/income families with children aged 2-9 years, Society for Prevention Research, 27th Annual Meeting.
    • Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2018). Early Childhood Development in the WHO European Region - Key indicators, European Regional Office World Health Organization.
    • Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2017). Mortality and morbidity burden in the European Region, European Regional Office World Health Organization.
    • Backhaus, S. (speaker) (2017). Cyber terror and its effect on anger and anxiety: a randomized controlled experiment, 41st Annual Scientific Meeting of International Society of Political Psychology.
    This list of publications is extracted from the UvA-Current Research Information System. Questions? Ask the library or the Pure staff of your faculty / institute. Log in to Pure to edit your publications. Log in to Personal Page Publication Selection tool to manage the visibility of your publications on this list.
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