Research at the Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

The research activities at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy combine clinical issues with basic research-oriented methodology, for which a neuropsychological and psychophysiological laboratory has been set up in recent years. Research activities began in the area of clinical care research, with the following thematic focuses, among others: suicidal and self-injurious behaviour in adolescents, establishment of a newly developed standardized emergency management system and analysis of reasons for presentation and diagnostic profiles for emergency visits to the clinic.

The departments' current research focuses on mental disorders and behavioral problems in childhood and adolescence (particularly depressive and anxiety disorders, suicidal and self-harming behavior, emotionally unstable personality traits, school absentism and anorexia nervosa). On the other hand, psychological characteristics and processes (e.g. psychosocial stress processing, emotion recognition, alexithymia and empathy) as well as early childhood risk and protective factors for the development and maintenance of mental illnesses are examined.

In addition to the precise clinical characterization of mental disorders using psychodiagnostic procedures and retrospective data analyses, methods of clinical-cognitive neuroscience are used. In particular, innovative measurement methods in psychophysiology, psychoendocrinology and biomedical imaging using structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging are the focus of current work.

Research report of the chair 7/2018-7/2023 (in German)