Livia van Leuven

Psychology degree from Karolinska institutet, lic. psychologist, and PhD from Karolinska institutet, the Department of Clinical Neuroscience. I have previously been working as a clinical psychologist with children and adolescents within primary care.

I am now a postdoctoral researcher at Karolinska institutet, the Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, and the Department of Global Public Health.

My research focuses on improving health for children and families facing difficult life circumstances, including high-conflict family environments, violence, and mental illness. I focus on developing and evaluating evidence-based approaches for identifying risk and delivering effective treatment and prevention programs in real-world service settings. I am passionated about advancing evidence-based practice in new arenas and at scale - to bridge the gap between research and practice.

Work during my doctoral studies

During my doctoral studies, I led two controlled trials evaluating a parenting intervention for parents where there have been concerns around child abuse. I also led projects on disseminating universal parenting support in routine settings, evaluating a screening program for parental mental health problems within social service contacts, and treatment for severe disruptive child behavior in child and adolescent psychiatry.

Ongoing projects

In my current postdoctoral research, I am leading projects evaluating:

• Digital parenting interventions to help parents manage anger in child rearing
• Digital psychosocial crisis support for children exposed to violence
• A parenting intervention for new parents previously exposed to family violence and currently struggle with emotion regulation difficulties
• Screening for child mental health problems in families into contact with social services