Child Development

Overview

Our main research lines cover both normative and non-normative or atypical developmental trajectories, person-environment and (epi)gene-environment transactions, child maltreatment and juvenile delinquency, the role of family diversity in child and adolescent development, and the effectiveness, effective elements and working mechanisms of pedagogical interventions.

Aims

The research goals of the Research Program in Child Development at the University of Amsterdam are:

• to gain knowledge and advance theory on both normative child development and manifestation of mild-to-severe internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, and the concomitant child-rearing and educational problems across different social contexts;
• to gain knowledge and advance theory on the etiological processes underlying developmental risks for vulnerable infants, children, adolescents, and young adults, by examining transactions between risk and protective factors across social contexts;
•  to develop, evaluate and improve preventive interventions and orthopedagogical and forensic treatments that target different child upbringing contexts to decrease internalizing and externalizing problems.