Why do some children grow up to be happy and functioning adults? And why do others get stuck, for example in behavioral or emotional problems? How can upbringing be a protected factor, or a risk factor? And how do we ensure that future generations have the best possible chances for personal growth, happiness and mental health? These are the kinds of questions Loes Keijsers researches. She has been appointed full professor Clinical Child and Family Studies at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), Department of Psychology, Education, and Child Studies, with effect from 1 November 2020.
Happy and functioning adults are important for a resilient society. The foundation is laid in childhood, among other things in upbringing. But not every child reacts in the same way to his or her social environment. In the coming years, Loes Keijsers will pay attention to the developing child and its environment in her research and education. For example, she will investigate how each individual child reacts to his or her parents, or to the use of social media. For this she uses new methods, such as measuring emotions and experiences in daily life with smartphones. This is also called Experience Sampling. She translates these scientific insights into practical applications such as eHealth apps, which she does together with young people and other end users. Together with Erasmus MC, she recently launched the GrowIt! app, which supports young people in dealing with negative emotions in daily life during the Corona crisis.
Keijsers attaches great importance to disseminating scientific knowledge to the general public, such as performances at TED talks and the Universiteit van Nederland. In 2013 she also published a popular scientific book “Waarom tieners zo irritant kunnen zijn. En hoe je daar als ouder mee kunt leren leven.”
About Loes Keijsers
Prof. Dr. Loes Keijsers received her doctorate in 2010 with a dissertation on parenting and juvenile delinquency. She was associate professor at Tilburg University. She is successful in obtaining grants, she received a VIDI from NWO in 2018 to gain insight into the daily life of families using advanced methods and techniques. By now she has 50+ publications in top journals to her name, she is regularly asked for international key-notes on youth education and new research methods.
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Marjolein Kooistra, media relations ESSB, 06 83676038, kooistra@essb.eur.nl