Empathic or anxious mistakes? A neurocognitive investigation of the development of social performance monitoring in youth growing up in stressful versus non-stressful environments

On 22 January, Annemarie Madani-Abbing will defend her dissertation 'Art therapy and anxiety' regarding her research into the effectiveness of anthroposophic art therapy in treating anxiety in women. We asked her about her research and what it was like to combine a job outside academia with studying…

A research into for whom, when and why the Cool Little Kids intervention works.

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…

An international mega-analysis on the neurobiological link between inhibited temperament and social anxiety disorder

Our world may seem unpredictable and uncertain, especially when others are involved. When interacting with others, we cannot know for sure what they may be thinking or planning to do, but we do a good job guessing. This may not be so easy for everyone…

Children with a specific phobia are excessively afraid of certain objects, animals or situations. Specific phobias are common in children, but they can make the child’s life at home, school and outside quite difficult. Together with a large international team, we developed the KibA-program to help children…

Delineating psychophysiological endophenotypes of social anxiety disorder

Can positive peer feedback break the cycle of negative self-relevant cognitive processes and reduce self-reported anxiety in early adolescents?

Effects of age and social anxiety

Peer-mentored cognitive behavioral therapy for adolescents with mild intellectual disability and anxiety disorder

Are there any differences in gaze behavior between high and low socially anxious individuals? What factors influence the relation between social anxiety and gaze behavior?

Can a virtual character’s friendly non-verbal responses stimulate eye-contact in individuals with varying levels of social anxiety?

Shyness is perfectly normal, Michiel Westenberg stated in his farewell lecture. But that doesn’t mean that social anxiety shouldn’t be identified and addressed in good time. ‘Serious shyness has strong genetic roots; you don’t just get over it.’

Toward optimal measurement and greater understanding of youth cognition in school refusal and cognitive behavioural therapy outcome

On Thursday 17 October, Marieke Bos and Anika Bexkens went behind the scenes at the Jeugdjournaal, a Dutch television program that delivers news specifically for children. They talked to the editors-in-chief of Jeugdjournaal about what kind of questions they receive from children and advised how to…

A smile, tears in your eyes or a blush on your cheeks: we understand one another better by mirroring one another’s emotions. In her PhD dissertation, Julia Folz concludes that people with autism or social anxiety can be helped by interventions focused on the body.

Effectiveness of an early intervention program for anxiety-prone toddlers in the Netherlands

This project has two main aims: I. Determine when novelty promotes fear extinction. II. Discover the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these effects.

In this thesis, we have studied the potential of the zebrafish larval model in studying the ECS, as a complementary model to the existing rodent models.

Can a newly developed, app-based, personalized maintenance program enhance the effectiveness of the exposure-based one-session-treatment for children with a specific phobia?

Elk jaar organiseert het LIBC in samenwerking met de gemeente Leiden een Publieksdag over hersenonderzoek.

Promotor: Prof.dr. M.K. Richardson

How do parents communicate anxiety to their child via body language and words? Psychologist Cosima Nimphy studied this question for her PhD research. Experiments show that children of anxious parents are not more sensitive to their parents’ signs of anxiety.

Developmental considerations in the design and delivery of cognitive-behavioural therapy for adolescent school refusal

CERQ is a questionnaire measuring cognitive coping strategies developed by Dr. Nadia Garnefski and Dr. Vivian Kraaij.

Our research regularly receives attention in the (Dutch) popular media. Here is an overview.

Our team consists of the following members.