prof. dr. A.J. (Tineke) Oldehinkel
Research interests
I am a professor of Lifecourse Epidemiology of Common Mental Disorders. Being trained as an (experimental) psychologist, (bio)statistician and epidemiologist, I have always worked on the crossroads of medical and social sciences. My affinity with multi- and interdisciplinary research is reflected in my leadership of the Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion regulation (ICPE), which performs research at the junction of various disciplines, with the aim to unravel psychobiological processes involved in the onset and course of common mental problems, in particular affective disorders. In addition, I am principal investigator of the longitudinal study TRAILS (Tracking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey, www.trails.nl), which was set up over fourteen years ago to chart and explain the mental health and development of adolescents and young adults, and involves researchers working in various scientific domains and institutes in the Netherlands and abroad.
My inspiration as a scientist is driven by a great deal of
curiosity as well as the desire to better understand and predict
the intricacies of the onset of course of mental health problems in
order to improve prevention and care. My research mainly focuses on
the interplay of individual psychobiological vulnerability and
resilience factors, conceived as the result of genetic endowment
and past experiences, and environmental challenges in the
development and course of depressive symptoms. This work is based
on observational data collected in large longitudinal
epidemiological surveys, complemented with studies involving many
repeated measurements in smaller groups to assess temporal patterns
of specific mood-related factors and the effects of interventions
thereon. An example of such a study concerns the question how
adolescents lose the ability to experience pleasure and may gain it
back again (www.nofunnoglory.nl).