Ida Mälarstig

Postdoctoral researcher and psychologist focused on advancing knowledge and access to effective treatment for adolescents with severe norm-violating behaviour, especially gang-related violence. Coordinating the Network for Research on Child and Youth Antisocial Development at KI (CYAD)

Clinical experience:

• Treating post-traumatic stress disorder, Prolonged Exposure and Narrative Exposure Therapy, for asylum-seekers and interpreter-mediated.
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, with a special interest in Relational Frame Theory.

Research grants:

• Majblomman 2023
• Stiftelen Frimurare Barnhuset 2024
• Statens institutionsstyrelse, Effects of PULS on Criminality Among Institutionalized Youth, Focusing Criminal Gangs 2025-2028
• Stiftelen Frimurare Barnhuset 2025
• Martin Rinds Stiftelse 2025

Education

• PhD in Medical Science, Karolinska Institutet, 2021-2025.
• Licensed Psychotherapist and Specialist in Clinical Psychology, Stockholm University, 2018–2022
• Master of Science (MSc) in Psychology, Stockholm University, 2008–2013

My research focuses on improving outcomes for adolescents with severe norm-violating behaviour with a particular focus on gang-related violence. I am especially interested in how interventions can be adapted, implemented, and evaluated in high-risk, restrictive care settings, and in how to better support long-term prosocial development. This includes two larger research projects targeting severe norm-violating behaviour in compulsory institutional care, both of which involve effect evaluations through multicentre randomized controlled trials.

The doctoral thesis focused on the adaptation and evaluation of the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) in secure care for adolescents with criminal behaviour and substance use. The thesis combined quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches to investigate treatment effects and lived experiences from multiple perspectives. The postdoctoral research project concerns the evaluation and adaptation of PULS, an evidence-based treatment for adolescents at moderate to high risk of violent recidivism, to better address the needs of adolescents involved in gang-related crime. 

Teaches in the subject areas:

• Adolescents with severe norm-violating behaviour 
• Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA),
• PTSD: Narrative Exposure Therapy and Prolonged Exposure
• Interpreter-mediated treatment
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

At: Specialist Training Program for Psychologists, the Psychotherapy Program, and the Residency Training for Psychiatrists. Additionally

Co-supervised two psychologists writing their specialist degree theses, and co-supervises two psychology students in their master's theses.