Maja Deković
Utrecht University, Child and Adolescent Studies, Faculty Member
Research Interests: Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Mental Health, Depression, Psychopathology, and 15 moreMedicine, Prevention, Comorbidity, Clinical research, Pediatric, Clinical Sciences, CBCL, Behavioral and Social Science Research, Bifactor Model, Child Behavior Checklist, Emotional Dysregulation, Brain Disorders, Paediatrics and reproductive medicine, P factor, and Dysregulation
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Research Interests: Developmental Psychology, Developmental Psychopathology, Depression, Adolescent, Comorbidity, and 15 moreAnxiety, Factor analysis, Humans, Child, Aggression, Female, Male, Checklist, Clinical Sciences, CBCL, ANXIETY, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Child Behavior Checklist, Emotional Dysregulation, and Child behavior disorders
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In this study, we investigated mean-level personality development in children from 6 to 20 years of age. Additionally, we investigated longitudinal, bidirectional associations between child personality and maternal overreactive and warm... more
In this study, we investigated mean-level personality development in children from 6 to 20 years of age. Additionally, we investigated longitudinal, bidirectional associations between child personality and maternal overreactive and warm parenting. In this 5-wave study, mothers reported on their child's personality from Time 1 (T1) through Time 4 (T4), and children provided self-reports from Time 2 (T2) through Time 5 (T5). Mothers reported on their levels of overreactive and warm parenting from T2 through T4. Using cohort-sequential latent growth curve modeling, we investigated mother reported child personality from 6 to 17 years of age and child reported personality from 9 to 20 years of age. Extraversion decreased linearly across the entire study. Benevolence and conscientiousness increased from middle to late childhood, temporarily declined from late childhood to mid-adolescence, and increased again thereafter. Imagination decreased from middle childhood to mid-adolescence an...
Research Interests: Marketing, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Developmental Psychology, Personality, and 15 moreConscientiousness, Parenting, Child Development, Adolescent Development, Adolescent, Medicine, Humans, Child, Personality Development, Female, Male, Big Five Personality Traits, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Adult, and Mother child relations
The aim of this study was to determine whether two risk factors that are frequently selected as targets for prevention and intervention purposes—involvement with deviant peers and parent–adolescent relationship quality—are associated with... more
The aim of this study was to determine whether two risk factors that are frequently selected as targets for prevention and intervention purposes—involvement with deviant peers and parent–adolescent relationship quality—are associated with delinquent behavior in the same way in a juvenile general population sample ( n = 88) as in a juvenile offender sample ( n = 85). Information on delinquency and the quality of parent–adolescent relationship was obtained from adolescents and parents. The results of path analyses showed that relations between poor parent–adolescent relationship quality, involvement with deviant peers, and delinquency depended on whose point of view is used (adolescent or parent) and which sample is used (general population or delinquent sample). These findings indicate that caution is warranted when theories based on research with community samples are used for development of intervention programs for juvenile delinquents.
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Research Interests: Clinical Psychology, Mental Health, Cognition, Parenting, Adolescent, and 15 moreMedicine, Counseling, Child Behavior, Complicated Grief, Humans, Child, Cognitive Therapy, Netherlands, Grief, Clinical Sciences, Parents, Age Factors, Clinical Protocols, Adolescent Behavior, and Cardiovascular medicine and haematology
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This multilevel study examined the relationships between moral climate factors and prosocial as well as antisocial behaviors inside and outside the school (school misconduct, delinquent behavior, and vandalism). The moral climate factors... more
This multilevel study examined the relationships between moral climate factors and prosocial as well as antisocial behaviors inside and outside the school (school misconduct, delinquent behavior, and vandalism). The moral climate factors were punishment- and victim-based moral orientation, relationships among students, and teacher–student relationships. The analyses of data from 670 students in 69 classes showed that the classroom-level variables only had a significant impact on misconduct at school of students aged 12 to 20. For the other outcome variables, the student-level variables (student and teacher–student relationships, but especially students’ moral orientation) were significant. A novel finding was that a positive teacher–student relationship not only proved to be related to less misconduct inside the school but also to less delinquent behavior and vandalism outside the school. This indicates that the teacher is an important socializing agent for adolescent behavior in ge...
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Research Interests: Marketing, Cognitive Science, Developmental Psychology, Conscientiousness, Autonomy, and 15 moreHumans, Effect size, Female, Male, Big Five Personality Traits, Infant, Agreeableness, Longitudinal Studies, Adult, Age Factors, Child Rearing, Cross Sectional Studies, Behavioral Control, Assessment Methods, and Child preschool
Research Interests: Cognitive Science, Developmental Psychology, Child Development, Adolescent, Fathers, and 15 moreChildren, Humans, Child, Female, Male, Child and Adolescent Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Adult, Disorders, Dimensions, Externalizing Problems, Dsm V, Child preschool, Internalizing problems, and Factor model
Research Interests: Developmental Psychology, Juvenile Delinquency, Family, Adolescent, Medicine, and 15 moreFamily Psychology, Humans, Child, Aggression, Adolescence, Female, Male, Middle Aged, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Model Analysis, Family Relationships, Adolescent Behavior, Externalizing Problems, and Child behavior disorders
A meta-analysis of k = 53 studies containing 60 non-overlapping samples and 10,073 participants was conducted to investigate whether psychopathy was associated with delinquency and (violent) recidivism in juveniles. The results showed... more
A meta-analysis of k = 53 studies containing 60 non-overlapping samples and 10,073 participants was conducted to investigate whether psychopathy was associated with delinquency and (violent) recidivism in juveniles. The results showed that psychopathy was moderately associated with delinquency, general recidivism, and violent recidivism. Moderator effects revealed that various study and participant characteristics influenced the strength of the association between psychopathy, delinquency, and (violent) recidivism. It was concluded that screening for the (early) detection of psychopathy is important, as delinquent behavior and recidivism can be predicted from psychopathy as early as the transition from middle childhood to adolescence.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Perception, Cognition, Sex, and 12 moreSocial Information Processing, Linguistics, Social Cognitive Theory, Social Development, Aggression, Psychological Intervention, Ethnic, Public health systems and services research, Ethnic Group, Family and child studies, Similarities, and Taverne
Research Interests: Developmental Psychology, Anger, Fear, Evaluation, Medicine, and 15 moreIndividual Differences, Humans, Gynecologic Oncology, Female, Male, Infant, Latent Profile Analysis, Article, Abnormal Child Psychology, Middle Aged, Abnormal, Adult, Adjustment Disorders, Individual Difference, and Child preschool
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This article addresses our endeavors and experiences conducting a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to evaluate a promising aftercare intervention in the Netherlands. New Perspectives Aftercare Program (NPAP) is an intensive reentry... more
This article addresses our endeavors and experiences conducting a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to evaluate a promising aftercare intervention in the Netherlands. New Perspectives Aftercare Program (NPAP) is an intensive reentry program for serious juvenile and young adult offenders, aged 16 to 24, starting in the last phase of their detention or secure care and lasting for 9 months. Implementing the experimental study was a challenge, because it covered both the juvenile and adult justice system, with offenders receiving aftercare mandated under criminal and civil law, resulting in complex referral pathways complicating the system and moment of randomization. Other matters were related to resistance to random assignment and unforeseen conflicts between administrative and evaluation priorities of the different stakeholders, such as the city council and youth care organizations. Our experiences may be helpful to other researchers who encounter similar problems to fruitfully condu...
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Background:For elementary school-children with aggressive behaviour problems, there is a strong need for effective preventive interventions to interrupt the developmental trajectory towards more serious behaviour problems.Aim:The aim of... more
Background:For elementary school-children with aggressive behaviour problems, there is a strong need for effective preventive interventions to interrupt the developmental trajectory towards more serious behaviour problems.Aim:The aim of this RCT-study was to evaluate a school-based individual tailor-made intervention (Stay Cool Kids), designed to reduce aggressive behaviour in selected children by enhancing cognitive behavioural skills.Method:The sample consisted of 48 schools, with 264 fourth-grade children selected by their teachers because of elevated levels of externalizing behaviour (TRF T-score > 60), randomly assigned to the intervention or no-intervention control condition.Results:The intervention was found to be effective in reducing reactive and proactive aggressive behaviour as reported by children, mothers, fathers or teachers, with effect sizes ranging from .11 to .32. Clinically relevant changes in teacher-rated externalizing behaviour were found: the intervention r...
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Developmental Psychology, Emotional intelligence, Cognition, and 15 morePersonality Assessment, Consumer Behavior, Medicine, Humans, Child, Aggression, Female, Male, Psychological Intervention, Normative, Netherlands, Longitudinal Studies, Randomized Controlled Trial, Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy, and Child behavior disorders
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Page 1. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1991, Vol. 3, No. 2,182-187 Copyright J 991 by the Amei n Psychological Association, Inc. 1040-3590/91/J3.00 Factor Structure and Construct Validity of the... more
Page 1. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1991, Vol. 3, No. 2,182-187 Copyright J 991 by the Amei n Psychological Association, Inc. 1040-3590/91/J3.00 Factor Structure and Construct Validity of the Block ...
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Obviously, evaluations of parenting programmes are important for improving clinical practice. Such evaluation studies can show us whether a parenting programme works and for whom and under which circumstances the programme has the best... more
Obviously, evaluations of parenting programmes are important for improving clinical practice. Such evaluation studies can show us whether a parenting programme works and for whom and under which circumstances the programme has the best effects. An additional, often neglected, role of evaluation studies is to provide a test of the theory on which the programme is based. In the present
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samenvatting Dit artikel beschrijft een onderzoeksproject dat vier deelstudies omvat, waarin het belang van ouders en vriendschapsrelaties voor het functioneren (zelfwaardering, agressief en delinquent gedrag) van adolescenten uit... more
samenvatting Dit artikel beschrijft een onderzoeksproject dat vier deelstudies omvat, waarin het belang van ouders en vriendschapsrelaties voor het functioneren (zelfwaardering, agressief en delinquent gedrag) van adolescenten uit verschillende etnische groepen in Nederland centraal staat. Voor het project werden op school vragenlijsten ingevuld door 541 adolescenten (vmbo, gemiddeld veertien jaar) met verschillende etnische achtergronden: Nederlands (59%), Turks (20%), Marokkaans (15%) en Surinaams (6%). Daarnaast zijn vragenlijstgegevens van 175 ouders gebruikt. De resultaten duiden op meer overeenkomsten dan verschillen tussen de etnische groepen. Zo gaan, ongeacht etnische achtergrond, goede vriendschapsrelaties samen met een hogere zelfwaardering van adolescenten. Een negatieve relatie met ouders gaat in alle groepen gepaard met een lagere zelfwaardering en een hogere mate van delinquent en agressief gedrag. De etnische verschillen lijken meer betrekking te hebben op de genera...
Research Interests: Research Design, Mental Health, Parenting, Treatment Outcome, Adolescent, and 16 moreCounseling, Child Behavior, Humans, Child, Cognitive Therapy, Netherlands, Grief, Clinical Sciences, Parents, Questionnaires, Time Factors, Trials, Age Factors, Clinical Protocols, Parent‐child Relations, and Adolescent Behavior
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Research Interests: Marketing, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Personality, Parenting, and 19 morePersonality Assessment, Humans, Effect size, Female, Male, Infant, Meta Analysis, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Middle Aged, Parents, Longitudinal Studies, Adult, Study design, Age Factors, Child Rearing, Parent‐child Relations, Cross Sectional Studies, Behavioral Control, and Assessment Methods
Research Interests: Marketing, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Personality, Individuality, and 16 moreParenting, Adolescent, Humans, Child, Personality Assessment Inventory, Female, Male, Aged, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Middle Aged, Parents, Longitudinal Studies, Adult, Sex Factors, Parent‐child Relations, and Adolescent Behavior
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The present study tested the hypothesis that improvements in parental sense of competence during multisystemic therapy (MST) lead to positive changes in parenting, which in turn lead to a decrease of adolescent externalizing problems.... more
The present study tested the hypothesis that improvements in parental sense of competence during multisystemic therapy (MST) lead to positive changes in parenting, which in turn lead to a decrease of adolescent externalizing problems. Mediational models were tested separately for 3 dimensions of parenting (positive discipline, inept discipline, and relationship quality) that are targeted in MST. Each model included "3-path mediation," in which 2 mediators (i.e., changes in parental sense of competence and parenting dimension) intervene sequentially between the independent (i.e., intervention status) and dependent variable (i.e., change in externalizing problems). Participants in this randomized controlled trial were 256 adolescents and their families who received either MST (n = 147) or treatment as usual (n = 109). In addition to pre- and postintervention assessments, 5 monthly within-intervention assessments took place. Both preintervention-postintervention comparison, through analysis of covariance, and comparison of trajectories during intervention, through latent growth modeling, showed that MST enhanced growth in parental sense of competence and positive discipline, led to no deterioration in relationship quality, and resulted in a decrease in adolescent externalizing problems. The results supported a sequential pattern of change for positive discipline: Changes in parental sense of competence predicted changes in positive discipline, which in turn predicted decrease in adolescent externalizing problems. No support was found for mediated effects of inept discipline and relationship quality. The results affirm the importance of directly targeting parental sense of competence and positive discipline in future interventions aimed at decreasing adolescent problem behavior.