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Making the decision to go to university and choosing a study is not an easy one. Parents/guardians are a critical part of the decision-making process for a student. This section contains information relevant to parents/guardians of current and prospective LUC students.

Delineating psychophysiological endophenotypes of social anxiety disorder

Do you want to learn how to prevent child problems by optimising caregiving? Would you like to advise parents, professional caregivers and policy makers on caregiving-issues? In that case the master’s specialisation Parenting and Child Development is the ideal choice for you!

In the programme group Parenting, Child Care and Development we examine in what way parents (mothers and fathers) and allo-parents (e.g., professional caregivers) influence children’s development, wellbeing and health. The main focus is on children’s social-emotional development and the prevention of…

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The programme group Parenting, Child Care and Development carries out general courses within the field of Education and Child Studies and specialized courses within the field of Child and Family Science.

Central elements in the research activities of all programme group members are: attachment, sensitive caregiving, and prevention and intervention.

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The programme group Parenting, Child Care and Development is located in the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Leiden University near Central Station.

In dit onderzoek van de Universiteit Leiden kijken we hoe vaders en moeders de zwangerschap en de overgang naar het ouderschap ervaren.

As soon as young children are introduced to rules and start to learn to obey to those rules, it can be difficult for parents to remain sensitive when their children try to bend or break those rules. The short-term (preventive) VIPP-SD intervention aims at enhancing parental sensitivity in interaction…

How adolescents perceive parenting is related to their mood. Differences between the perspectives of parents and adolescents are also of importance for adolescents’ mood. That is what research by Loes Janssen and her Leiden University colleagues in Clinical Psychology shows. Open Access publication…

Previous research has shown that extreme shyness is hereditary, but because shyness is such a broad concept it is difficult to identify specific genes. Anita Harrewijn has discovered particular brain measurements that can help. PhD defence 18 January.

We should mention differences in skin colour to our children because only then can we talk openly about prejudice and racism – and how to prevent them. This is what Professor Judi Mesman says in her book ‘Opgroeien in kleur’ (Growing up in Colour), which offers advice to parents. ‘Why is there only…

‘The idea that overweight and obesity are the fault of parents and/or the child, is rubbish.' Roxanna Camfferman, who specialises in child and adolescent studies, explains her proposition. Her PhD dissertation is on the role of upbringing in child obesity.

In this episode, we talk with Leonie Vreeke and Nina Komrij about the Cool Little Kids research project. CLK explores the effectiveness of training parents of anxiety prone toddlers to prevent their children from developing anxiety on a later age. Want to learn more about their research and discover…

Parents may pass anxiety onto their offspring by exposing them to anxious behaviors in novel situations. Just as the parents’ anxious signals lead to anxiety, parents’ confident signals can ward off anxiety in the offspring. This project is seeking a new way to break anxiety transmission in the family…

Why do some children confront social challenges with confidence, whereas others experience difficulties? What is the role of child temperament and child emotional dispositions? What is the role of parenting? This project aims to shed light on the mechanisms explaining shyness and confidence in response…

It may seem as though adolescents do as they please, but they are more sensitive to their parents’ opinions than they would appear. The adolescent brain reacts strongly to parental criticism or praise. These are the results of a study by an interdisciplinary research group of psychologists and neuroscientists…

Kinderen in de kleuterleeftijd begrijpen steeds beter wat volwassenen van ze verwachten. Welke gedragsregels leren deze kinderen van hun vader en moeder in bepaalde culturen binnen Nederland?

Parents appear to be extremely sensitive to feedback they receive about their child. Just how sensitive depends on the (‘rose-tinted’) glasses through which they look at their child. All this can be seen in the brain. Neuroscientist Lisanne van Houtum and her Leiden colleagues published on this issue…

What do you want your children to learn from you? How can parents teach their teenagers responsibility? Do children understand differences between rules at home and at school ?

An increasing amount of research is demonstrating the importance of taking parenting from prison seriously. But the plans of Minister Dekker of Legal Protection do not address this issue.

Fathers and mothers bring children up differently. Mothers are more likely to correct children for bad behaviour, for example. This is one of the findings of PhD research by Liesbeth Hallers-Haalboom. PhD defence 7 October.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated measures during the first lockdown in the Netherlands in March 2020 caused major changes in daily life. Parents worked from home and children followed school online. Therefore, the families were forced to spend more time together. This is particularly difficult for…

PhD candidate at the Parenting, Child Care and Development programme group Wei Li examined longitudinally the role of parents in self-regulation of young children in the Netherlands and China during their first two years of life. Li also specifically focused on the role of grandparents in China. This…

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Five questions about PREPARE, the new research project funded by the EU and led by Joana Cook. Cook is Assistant Professor of Terrorism and Political Violence at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs and lead investigator on PREPARE.

In the Pioneers of Leiden University series, we talk to past and present students who were the first in their family to go to university. In this second instalment: historian and university lecturer Nadia Bouras (1981). ‘Although I only found out later that was my mother’s dream, it was as though I…

Monique Tekstra-van Lochem decided to develop a book of her own that all children can recognize themselves in. In May

What role do parent-child interactions play in the development, maintenance and treatment of depression in young people?