Ellen Reitz (1975), developmental psychologist, received her PhD in 2004 at the University of Amsterdam. She works as an assistant professor at Utrecht University at the Department of Clinical Child and Family Studies.

Research

She is a member of Child and Adolescent Studies (CAS), an interdisciplinary research program that aims to explain how individual characteristics, proximal social relationships, and the wider social and cultural context shape developmental trajectories, with the ultimate aim to improve preventive and/or interventions to help children and families optimally develop.

Her research interests concern the field of psychosocial development and sexual development of adolescents and its relationships with parents and peers.  
She was, for instance, a co-project leader in Project STARS (Studies on Trajectories of Adolescent Relationships and Sexuality) and was involved as a co-promoter in one of the sub-projects of Project STARS, which focused on sexuality in relationship to parents and peers. 
Her focus also lies in the field of intervention research. She was/is involved in several projects as a project consultant in intervention studies aimed at promoting sexual health of youth. From 2016 onwards, she is the PI of an intervention study that examines the effectiveness of Rock and Water, an intervention that aims to increase resilience, the psychosocial well-being, the social safety, and sexual health of youth.

Teaching

She teaches and coordinates several courses in the bachelor Pedagogical Sciences and the master Clinical Child, Family and Education Studies. In addition, she coordinates the minor Psychosocial Problems.

Boards, editorial tasks, councils, committees

From 2010 onwards, she is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.
In addition, she co-edited a special issue on "Intimate Relationships and Sexuality" of the Dutch journal Kind & Adolescent [Child and Adolescent] (2013).

She was the chair of the program advisory committee and member of the educational committee of the undergraduate studies of Pedagogical Sciences until 2017.

From 2017 she is a member of the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. From 2021 she is the chair of the staff-delegation of the Faculty Council.