INVEST Psychology
PI
Christina Salmivalli
Deputy Head of Flagship
Profesor of Psychology
University of Turku
Contact
CV
Co PIs and other INVEST researchers are listed here
Psychology research group, spring 2020
Research Projects
ERC Starting Grant project DWELL 2025-2030
PI: Sarah T. Malamut
Peer victimization (i.e., being the target of aggression or bullying by peers) has serious, negative effects on youth. Recent studies highlight rumination (excessively dwelling on one’s distress) as a key factor in prolonged suffering for victimized youth. Despite the belief that seeking social support is beneficial, supportive friendships can (surprisingly) lead to worse adjustment for victimized youth.
The DWELL project examines co-rumination (excessively discussing distress with a friend) as an explanation for this paradox. Using various methods (e.g., longitudinal studies, social network analysis, daily diary, observation), this project will investigate individual differences in the effects of victimization and (co-)rumination on mental health over different timeframes.
DWELL aims to offer insights to parents, educators, and clinicians by identifying the youth most susceptible to the adverse effects of victimization, and highlighting healthy strategies for seeking social support.
The research project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC).
ERC Starting Grant project SHADES 2025-2030
PI: Tiina Turunen
For decades, research has explored why some children and adolescents engage in bullying. Yet, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of the personal characteristics, motives, and social cognitions that drive different types of bullies.
The SHADES Project aims to fill these gaps by examining the psychological, social, behavioral, and genetic factors underlying bullying perpetration, as well as the long-term psychosocial adjustment of perpetrators, with a focus on heterogeneity and persistence.
The research project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC).
ERC Advanced Grant project CHALLENGE 2020-2025
PI: Christina Salmivalli
Bullying in schools is widespread, with adverse effects on youth and high costs for societies. Research on bullying prevention has so far focused on average effects of anti-bullying programs and mainly concerned universal, preventive measures. While important, this has overshadowed attempts to uncover how exactly school personnel intervene in particular bullying cases and when and why that fails. CHALLENGE will open up new research horizons by shifting the focus from average program effects to the characteristics and conditions of youth who remain victimized or continue bullying despite targeted interventions.
KiVa® antibullying program
KiVa is a research-based antibullying program that has been developed in the University of Turku, Finland, with funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture. The effectiveness of KiVa has been shown in a large randomized controlled trial. In Finland, KiVa is a sought-after program: most of all comprehensive schools in the country are registered KiVa schools implementing the program.
Opintokamu®
>> Read more (only in Finnish)