As a researcher in the field of child development, my aim is to contribute to the healthy development of children and adolescents and to create a positive living and learning environment for them. In doing so, I place great importance on collaborating with children and adolescents, not only focusing on the individual, but also considering crucial environmental factors (such as classroom norms, the influence of social media, and the [evolutionary] function of behaviors within groups).

My specialization lies in the field of bullying in (secondary) schools. Here too, I explore the function of bullying behavior: what are important affordances, how does it impact the motivation to bully, and can we use this knowledge to reduce such behavior? In my research, I also focus on anti-bullying interventions and examine whether specific components of interventions (do not) work well for particular subgroups of youths. It is vital to take individual differences into account, as one size does not fit all.

In my work, I utilize various research methods. For instance, I integrate existing knowledge (systematic reviews, meta-analyses, individual participant data-meta-analysis), test new hypotheses (experimental paradigms, micro-trials), and gain valuable, in-depth insights from children and adolescents themselves (focus groups, content-analyses).

Expertise and research fields

• Goals and Gains of Bullying
• Anti-Bullying Interventions
• Adolescent Development
• Self-Regulation
• Harmful Social Behaviors
• Social Media (Influences)

Media appearences

Fekkes, M. (Author), Hensums, M. (Author), & de Jong, T. (Author). (12-2022). Wat werkt tegen pesten?. Digital or Visual Products, Research Institute of Child Development and Education (RICDE), Universiteit van Amsterdam. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3f7RDPDdpuHrToA0hEO5Ah?go=1&sp_cid=02ada9275d13ba296a0f2c445e1c7893&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1

Hensums, M. (Author). (06- 2023). Wetenschappers beantwoorden Google's meest gestelde vragen | Pesten. Digital or Visual Products https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGnJY7N40Dk

Hensums, M. (05-02-2023). Fordømte fuckboys. Weekendavisen. https://www.weekendavisen.dk/2023-5/ideer/fordoemte-fuckboys  

Hensums, M. (29-09-2022). Wakkere wetenschapper Maud Hensums over de week tegen het pesten [Radio] NPO Radio 1. Wakkere wetenschapper Maud Hensums over de week tegen het pesten. https://www.nporadio1.nl/fragmenten/de-nacht-van/966354cb-5219-4ac7-99cf-b703a833ecaa/2022-09-29-wakkere-wetenschapper-maud-hensums-over-de-week-tegen-het-pesten

Hensums, M. (26-09-2022). Op de middelbare school speelt sociale status een grote rol bij pesten [Web]. Op de middelbare school speelt sociale status een grote rol bij pesten. https://www.uva.nl/shared-content/faculteiten/nl/faculteit-der-maatschappij-en-gedragswetenschappen/nieuws/2022/09/op-de-middelbare-school-speelt-sociale-status-een-grote-rol-bij-pesten.html

Other links

Programme group:  https://cde.uva.nl/research/child-development/preventive-youth-care/preventive-youth-care.html

Mastertrack I am affiliated with most:  https://www.uva.nl/shared-content/programmas/en/masters/pedagogical-sciences-youth-at-risk/youth-at-risk.html

Research methods

• Meta-analyses (among which Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling, and Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis)
• Systematic Reviews (Meta-Review)
• Experimental and Intervention Studies (among which micro-trials, and experimental paradigms)
• Qualitative Methods (among which content-analysis, and focus-groups)

Current research

Cousin Kevin: On Bullying Motivations, Goals, and Affordances—And How we Should Intervene

Project description:  Most children bully not out of a lack of social skills, but because they instrumentally pursue dominance and peer group status. It follows that to effectively remediate bullying, we have to change the peer group norm so that it signals the unacceptability and ineffectiveness of bullying. We are the first to study this in a global IPD meta-analysis of 39.000+ youths participating in RCTs of anti-bullying programs, and a micro-trial in which we isolate prosocial peer norms and positive peer roles as putative effective elements of an anti-bullying approach.

Research grants & honours

• NWO Open Competition M (awarded to Prof. Dr. G. Overbeek)

Current cooperations

• Prof. Dr. Geertjan Overbeek;
• Prof. Dr. Minne Fekkes;
• Dr. Brechtje de Mooij;
• Collaborators: Dr. Terrence  Jorgensen, Dr. Lydia Laninga-Wijnen.

RPA

For my PhD project I was involved in Research Priority Area Yield. 

Bachelor

• Thesis supervision (Pedagogische en Onderwijswetenschappen)

Master

• Internship Supervision
  Programs: MA Preventive Youth Care, MA Youth at Risk
• Parent and Peer Influences in Youth Development (tutorials)
  Program: MA Youth at Risk
• Professional Skills Masterclass (tutorials)
  Program: MA Youth at Risk
• Thesis supervision master students
  Programs: MA Youth at Risk, MA Orthopedagogics, MA Forensic Orthopedagogics, MA Preventive Youth Care