Psychology Blog Posts

Direct observations help develop effective interventions in adolescence

Presenting a study in which family and friendship dynamics in adolescence were observed in order to develop more personalized interventions that prevent problem behaviors and adjustment issues.

The role of inhibitory control on substance use in adolescence

Adolescents are vulnerable to risk-taking behaviors such as substance use. Dr. Roy Otten and his team examined how early childhood stress and inhibitory control influence the risk of adolescent substance use.

Studying conflict interactions between mothers and adolescents

It is common for conflicts to arise between adolescents and their parents. However, severe conflicts can have negative effects on adolescent development. What can parents do to prevent escalating conflicts?

Early exploratory behavior in infants with Down syndrome

Object exploration is part of infants’ early development. How do infants with Down syndrome explore the world around them? And how is exploratory behavior related to their general development?

Working memory and emotion regulation in children with ADHD

How can we understand emotional reactivity in children with ADHD? In the current study, Tarle and her colleagues examined the relation between emotion regulation and working memory in children with and without this disorder.

Studying posture development in infants at risk for autism

Research shows that early posture development is delayed in infants who are eventually diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Understanding these delays helps to improve early diagnosis and intervention.

Food and Cognition project

The Food and Cognition project will form a cluster of partners in the East of the Netherlands, who will exchange knowledge on the topics of eating behavior, targeted nutrition and enabling technologies.

Two examples of on-site observational studies with older persons

In certain cases, observations for your study are best performed on-site. In this blog, we describe examples of observational studies with older age groups, conducted at home or at a healthcare facility.

The effects of negative campaigning on emotions

Do people display different emotions when they watch a commercial with or without negative campaigns? Sabine Dennert shares her findings in this guest blog post.

What does an infant’s gaze tell us about how hungry they feel?

McNally and her colleagues developed a coding scheme to observe infant gaze behavior and applied it in a study of complementary feeding.

How do children interact with their older autistic siblings?

In celebration of World Autism Awareness Day, this blog post focuses on the social interactions between children and their older autistic siblings.

Serious gaming reduces anxiety in children

What is the effectiveness of the applied game called MindLight in teaching children how to cope with anxiety? Wols et al. investigated this game-based intervention.