Project description
Adolescent mental health through neurocognitive pathways
The issue of adolescent mental health has become increasingly important, as a growing number of young people worldwide suffer from anxiety and depression. While insecure attachment is a known contributing risk factor, modifying it is difficult. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the REATTACH project aims to focus on executive functions such as emotion regulation and flexibility, and propose practical interventions that can be implemented at an early stage. It will also use longitudinal data from large-scale samples in the Netherlands to explore the relationship between attachment and mental health. The findings will provide educators and clinicians with new tools to help them foster resilient futures for underserved youth.
Objective
Adolescent mental health is a growing global concern, with rising rates of anxiety, depression, and psychosocial difficulties across diverse populations. Insecure attachment—shaped by early relational experiences—has been identified as a key transdiagnostic risk factor for mental health. Because insecure attachment is relatively stable and difficult to modify—even with long-term clinical intervention—this project shifts focus to more malleable mechanisms with greater potential for large-scale impact. Executive functions (EFs)—notably inhibition, flexibility, and emotion regulation—are often impaired in insecurely attached youth, yet are amenable to change. By positioning EFs as mediators between attachment and mental health outcomes, the project identifies actionable targets for early, scalable, and context-sensitive interventions that can reach even the most underserved adolescents.
Combining longitudinal data from two large-scale Dutch cohorts, the project draws on behavioural, neuroimaging and multi-informant measures to identify modifiable neurocognitive pathways linking insecure attachment to adolescent mental health. Advanced statistical modelling will be applied to test this model both retrospectively and prospectively. The project embraces open science practices and integrates interdisciplinary perspectives from developmental psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and educational science. Gender and diversity considerations are embedded throughout to ensure social relevance and equity.
The fellowship will be hosted at the SYNC Lab (Erasmus University Rotterdam), under the supervision of Prof. Eveline Crone and Prof. Anna van Duijvenvoorde (Leiden University). Training will be further enriched through expert mentoring, advanced courses, and two collaborative research visits to the University of Cambridge.
Findings will be translated into accessible tools for educators, clinicians, and adolescents and serve as a foundation for future targeted interventions.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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3062 PA Rotterdam
Netherlands
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