Telephone number:	+31 (0)71 527 3380
E-Mail:	kouwenbergm@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
Faculty / Department:	Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen, Instituut Psychologie, Ontwikkelings- & Onderwijspsychologie
Office Address:	Pieter de la Court gebouw Wassenaarseweg 52 2333 AK Leiden Room number 3B33

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"Deaf children have limited access to the social environment and the effects this may have on the development of psychopathology should not be neglected."

Maartje Kouwenberg is a PhD student in the unit Developmental and Educational Psychology of the Institute of Psychology at Leiden University.

She obtained her Master’s degree in both Linguistics and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Utrecht. She also successfully completed the first year of the course for interpreter in Dutch Sign Language.
Her current research focuses on deaf children’s (9-14 yrs old) social and emotional development. Children learn from their social environment how and when to express their emotions in an adaptive way. However, deaf children have limited access to their social environment, so they might learn less from e.g. siblings quarrelling and making up, or from other people talking about emotions. With a new instrument, which examines various aspects of children’s emotional functioning, the influence of this deprived access to the social environment on the development of psychopathology will be explored.

For a full description of her research programme, see Deafness.