Marissa Hofstee received her bachelor degree in Pedagogical Sciences (minor Behavioral Neuroscience) at the University of Groningen and her master degree in Education and Child Studies (Specialisation 'Applied Neuroscience in Human Development') at Leiden University. She has worked as a pedagogical worker in childcare and as a junior researcher at the project 'Equal opportunities for a diverse youth' in Amsterdam. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher at the department of Clinical Child and Family Studies at Utrecht University.
Project
Marissa is involved in the YOUth cohort study, which is a large-scale, longitudinal study following children in their development from pregnancy until early adulthood. This study with repeated measurements of brain and behavioural development consists of two independent but related samples from the general population. The YOUth cohort is part of the NWO Gravitation Consortium on Individual Development (CID), UMC Utrecht Brain Center and the University Utrecht Strategic Theme Dynamics of Youth. Within this study, Marissa aims to examine the early development of self-regulation during infancy and early childhood in relation to environmental factors and brain development. Her specific focus areas are center-based childcare, characteristics of parents, such as parenting behaviors, and child frontal brain activity.