Do you have an interest in clinical and/or developmental psychology? Are you interested in the development of intergenerational relationships during the transition to (grand)parenthood, and how this affects the individuals in these relationships? Do you have the ambition to contribute to societally relevant scientific research? Then an interdisciplinary PhD position, integrating pedagogical expertise on relationships and development with expertise from clinical psychology on individual distress at the departments of Youth and Family and Clinical Psychology might be just the right job for you.

Apart from feelings of joy and happiness, parenthood can be associated with distress. Grandparents can buffer parental distress, but their involvement may also disturb power dynamics and raise conflicts. In this PhD project, you will work on unraveling the influence of grandparental involvement on the (system around) the developing child and on identifying possible supporting and distress-enhancing effects of grandparental involvement on parents’ and children’s wellbeing.

1. identify the roles that grandparents fulfil in child care;
2. examine how and when grandparental and parental distress are associated over time;
3. analyse the longitudinal associations of grandparent-parent relationship characteristics with parents’ general distress (anxiety and depression symptoms) and parenting-specific distress; and
4. unravel how grandparent-parent relationship characteristics and characteristics of parents and grandparents affect each other and child development (e.g., internalizing problems).

This project will enable you to work with data from the ongoing (multi-informant) RADAR G3 cohort study, in which three generations are followed: RADAR participants, their children and their parents (now grandparents). Additionally, you will be able to use data from collaborators and publicly available multigenerational datasets. Moreover, you will be invited to design a mixed-methods study, including in-depth interviews with grandparents and parents, and you will be asked to coordinate data collection for RADAR G3.

This is an interdisciplinary PhD project, and you will be embedded within two departments: Youth and Family and Clinical Psychology. You will be supervised by an interdisciplinary team, consisting of Dr Marjolein Missler and Dr Sanne Geeraerts (daily supervisors). Dr Marjolein Missler focuses on distress during the transition to parenthood and the association with child development. Dr Sanne Geeraerts specializes in intergenerational relationships and early socio-emotional development. Prof Susan Branje and Prof Paul Boelen will be the promotors. Your work will also include 10% teaching tasks, with an extension possibility to 20%.

We are looking for an enthusiastic colleague (m/f/x) who meets the requirements below:

• You have an (almost finished) (Research) Master’s degree in the field of developmental or clinical psychology, pedagogics, or a related field.
• You have excellent research and writing skills.
• You have well-developed analytical skills and you are preferably acquainted with Mplus and/or R.
• You have good social skills and affinity with data collection.
• You have excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
• You have a good command of the Dutch language or are willing to learn Dutch. This is required for the data collection and we believe that understanding and speaking Dutch makes it easier to connect with colleagues. We offer free Dutch language courses.
• You have an interest in individual distress (clinical focus) as well as the development of intergenerational relationships (family focus).
• You are a motivated and collaborative team member, communicative and open for collaboration across scientific fields.

• You will be offered a temporary position (0.8 - 1.0 FTE), initially for one year with an extension to a total of four years upon a successful assessment in the first year, and with the specific intent that it results in a doctorate within this period.
• The gross salary will range from €2443,- in the first year to €3122,- in the fourth year in the P-scale (Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities) per month based on a full-time employment.
• The salary is supplemented with an annual holiday pay of 8%, and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3% per year.
• We also offer a pension scheme.

We encourage you to grow professionally, and we support a healthy work-life balance. That’s why we offer employment benefits such as professional development, leave arrangements, partially paid parental leave and sports. We also give you the opportunity to expand your terms of employment via the Employment Conditions Selection Model. 

And that's not all. We are happy to have you as a new employee and will give you a warm welcome. We host a good introduction process for our new colleagues where we will introduce you and show you around our faculty and university.

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major societal themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Sustainability.

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences is one of the leading faculties in Europe providing research and academic teaching in cultural anthropology, educational sciences, interdisciplinary social science, pedagogical sciences, psychology, and sociology. We are a faculty at the heart of society and one which cooperates closely with others. Our almost 6,000 students are enrolled in a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programmes. The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences has some 900 faculty and staff members, all providing their individual contribution to the training and education of young talent and to the research into and finding solutions for scientific and societal issues. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth and Institutions for Open Societies.

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences aspires to have a diverse body of staff and students and strives to create and sustain a safe and inclusive environment for everyone, in line with Utrecht University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy.