The STAP study examines the cost-effectiveness of Written Exposure Therapy (WET) for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in primary care settings.

Behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying risky decision-making in adolescents

The overall aim of the project is to investigate effective ways to strengthen vocational identity of at-risk adolescents in order to contribute to a successful transition from late secondary to post secondary lower vocational education or to work.

The ‘empathic mind’ in children with Specific Language Impairments (SLI); what can children with SLI understand of other people’s minds and emotions?

Development and validation of instruments that can measure different aspects of emotional competence in children with normal and atypical development, and in different cultures

The roles of shame, guilt and social access in adolescent aggression

ADHD&me is a new cognitive-behavioural therapeutic intervention for young adults (16–25 years old) with ADHD, specifically aimed at improving self-esteem. In this study, we are conducting a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to examine whether this intervention improves self-esteem and whether related…

Members of our research team give different types of presentations and lectures.

When and how does social anxiety develop? How can it go astray in some adolescents? How can we help troubled young people to attend school regularly and return to a normal developmental pathway?

What are the developmental pathways to social anxiety (disorder), the causal processes and maintaining factors? How do these factors interact in the development of social anxiety disorder? How can this knowledge be used to design and implement effective preventive intervention programs for youth?

Some people are more sensitive to depression than others. But why is that the case? Clinical psychologist Niki Antypa studied how vulnerability to depression is influenced by cognition. She also found a first careful indication that a treatment with omega-3 fatty acids might provide a solution.

There is a link in adolescents between brain connections and impulsiveness. Leiden researchers have discovered that these connections also predict which adolescents will make more impulsive choices two years further on.

Welcome to the Social Anxiety and Specific Phobia (SASP) Research Group!

Developmental considerations in the design and delivery of cognitive-behavioural therapy for adolescent school refusal

The overarching aim of this theme is to increase our understanding of the mechanisms underlying altered cognitive, affective, and social behavior in relation to mental health problems.

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I want to understand the overlap between physical health, mental health, and healthy aging and whether/how stress (behaviorally and biologically) may tie these concepts together.

Do general practitioners recognize children with or at risk of problematic anxiety and is there a pattern that might help differentiate those with and without anxiety disorders in general practice?

Why does social anxiety increase in adolescence and how does it grow out of control in some adolescents?

The aim of this project is to investigate the (cost)effectiveness of two innovative forms of trauma-focused therapy for patients with childhood abuse related PTSD. The ultimate goal is to improve quality of care and contribute to treatment innovation for this severely ill target population.

The main focus of our research programme is on adolescence, a key transitional period in human development. The programme puts emphasis on combined experimental behavioural and neural analysis of normative transitions and deviations in adolescent development.

The section Developmental and Educational Psychology consists of more than 45 people, who are mainly involved in education and research.

Eveline Crone wrote a new edition of

How are interests embedded and experienced in daily life and to what extent can their origin and development be understood in terms of this contextualization?

The brains of adolescents react more strongly to receiving rewards. This can lead to risky behaviour, but research in Leiden has shown that it also has a positive purpose: it makes learning easier. The publication of an article on the research findings led to a lot of media attention.

As young people’s friendships improve, their mental resilience also increases. This is according to research conducted by Anne-Laura van Harmelen, Professor of Brain, Safety and Resilience at Leiden University.

How is the development of physiological responses to social evaluation in adolescence affected by other normative developments, such as pubertal, socio-cognitive and psychosocial development? Are social anxiety and public speaking anxiety associated with characteristic patterns of stress responses…

Issue 1

Cultural and individual differences

Professor of Neurocognitive Developmental Psychology Eveline Crone will receive an Ammodo KNAW Award. This was announced by Ammodo, an institute for arts and sciences, and the Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) on 25 January.

Professor Eveline Crone joined the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC) on 13 January.

Mapping the neural mechanisms underlying social motivations of adolescents and adults

People who have taken antibiotics in the past three months pay more attention to negative facial expressions, according to research by postdoc Katerina Johnson and assistant professor Laura Steenbergen. This may explain how antibiotics increase the risk of developing depression.

Peer-mentored cognitive behavioral therapy for adolescents with mild intellectual disability and anxiety disorder

Primary Objective: The primary aim of the proposed RCT is to evaluate whether LF-TLP in blended form as an indicated prevention for anxiety complaints is more (cost-) effective than TAU according to the NHG guideline Anxiety. We hypothesize that in comparison to TAU, LF-TLP will result in a significantly…