Four FSW researchers receive NWO-XS funding
Four FSW researchers received good news at the end of 2025: they will receive an NWO-XS grant this year.
The NWO-XS grants give researchers in the social sciences and humanities the opportunity to conduct research on a topic of their choice. This results in a very diverse group of winners.
Stress and resilience
Anika Bexkens (Psychology) receives a grant for her research into stress and resilience in families awaiting care in youth mental health services. ‘Thanks to this grant, we can investigate how stress and resilience in different family members influence each other,’ she says. ‘We are going to develop methods that will give us a much better understanding of how changes in the behaviour of one family member impact other family members. This will provide us with an important new tool for evaluating system-oriented care such as family therapy.’ The NWO-XS grant gives Bexkens the opportunity to hire someone to collect the data. ‘That wouldn't have been possible otherwise, because I already have many different tasks myself.’
Researchers and their projects
Anika Bexkens (Psychologie) - Capturing family-level change in child and adolescent psychiatry
In child and adolescent psychiatry, there are no adequate methods to evaluate family-based interventions such as family therapy. Bexkens is developing innovative measurement methods to reveal the mechanisms through which parents and children influence each other and shape each other's resilience and recovery. Using smartphone questionnaires and family-specific network models, she monitors and analyses the daily mood and stress levels of parents and young people, with the aim of more effectively evaluating and improving family-based treatments.
Julie Hall (Psychologie) - Lost in your own body: Somatic uncertainty and anxiety in Parkinson's disease
Many people with Parkinson's disease experience medication fluctuations that can trigger anxiety. Hall is investigating whether this anxiety stems from confusing bodily signals and why some patients are particularly vulnerable. Participants use an app to measure their experiences, including during expected anxiety fluctuations. This should help to develop targeted interventions.
Linda de Voogd (Psychologie) - A an immersive Haunted House Attraction as an experimental model to study effective coping strategies to psychological manipulation
Psychological violence causes enormous individual and societal harm, but there is no clear definition of it. There is also no causal evidence for effective coping strategies. De Voogd uses a manipulated Haunted House experience to investigate strategies for strengthening self-confidence. Real-time measurements of emotions, behaviour and reflections provide insight into vulnerability and resilience.
Xiaochen Zheng (Psychologie) - Hold a thought: How ADHD-related traits can challenge everyday communication
People with ADHD often face challenges in communication, especially in multitasking situations. Zheng is investigating how working memory supports communication during multitasking. Using a new type of online task and in collaboration with a national ADHD network, data is being collected from a large, diverse sample. In addition to new insights, this should yield a useful online paradigm that will enable future large-scale studies.