Child and adolescent psychosocial well-being and mental health
Child and adolescent psychosocial well-being and mental health is one of the five research themes of INVEST Research Flagship Centre.
The psychosocial well-being of children and adolescents is examined from the perspective of risk and protective factors, exploring, for example, the influences of family, peer relations, and the broader society. Mental health research focuses on both epidemiological and intervention studies. These studies investigate the prevalence of psychological disorders in children and adolescents, the factors influencing them, and the effectiveness of programs designed to prevent or mitigate symptoms.
Research area director: Professor Kirsi Peltonen
Researchers linked to this Research Theme
Kirsi Peltonen
Kirsi Peltonen, is a Professor of Psychology at INVEST Research Flagship Centre, University of Turku. Her research has focused on the impact of war and violence on child and adolescent development. Her main interest is on the effectiveness of interventions supporting mental health and treating trauma symptoms. Implementing research into society has been an important part of her work.
Keywords: children, trauma, immigrants , refugees
Sanni Aalto
Sanni Aalto is a doctoral researcher at INVEST and a clinical psychologist. Her research focuses on the well-being and adaptation of migrant and refugee children and adolescents. She is currently involved in the RefSupport project (PI: Kirsi Peltonen), which examines the interconnected roles of cognitive skills, mental health, social support, and social competence, with the goal of finding ways to better support the well-being and school performance of migrant and refugee children.
Keywords: migrant, refugee , mental health , resilience, academic achievement, social skills, psychological assessment, supportive actions
Thang Dang
Thang Dang is an economist specializing in social inequalities and policy evaluation. His research examines how economic and social policies shape individual and family outcomes, with a particular focus on children and adolescents. He is especially interested in identifying the causal determinants of health and well-being across the life course and in understanding how disadvantage in early life translates into long-term inequalities. His work combines rigorous econometric methods with rich administrative and survey data, often in the context of the Nordic countries and Europe more broadly. Beyond his core focus on childhood and youth, his research interests extend to labor markets, migration, and the distributional consequences of welfare state policies.
Keywords: social inequalities, policy evaluation, econometric methods, health, well-being
Reeta Kankaanpää
Reeta Kankaanpää is a doctoral researcher at INVEST Research Flagship Centre, University of Turku. Her research focuses on quantitative methodology and measurement in psychology, effectiveness of psychological and social interventions, and child and adolescent mental health and well-being.
Keywords: methodology, measurement, intervention effectiveness, adolescent mental health
Oskari Lahtinen
Oskari Lahtinen is a Senior Researcher at INVEST Research Flagship Centre, University of Turku. He studies the link between children’s traumas and learning in the RefSupport project.
Keywords: trauma, children, learning
Tiina Turunen
Tiina Turunen is a Senior Researcher at the INVEST Flagship Research Centre at the University of Turku. Her research interests include antecedents and consequences of bullying perpetration, evaluation and implementation of anti-bullying interventions, bullying among students with learning difficulties, as well as psychosocial well-being of children and adolescents. In 2024, she received the European Research Council’s (ERC) Starting Grant to study heterogeneity in bullying perpetration and its longitudinal effects on adjustment and wellbeing.
Keywords: bullying, peer-relations, interventions, adolescents, wellbeing