<h1>Keynote speaker</h1> <img width="640" height="686" src="https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-10.png" alt="" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-10.png 720w, https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-10-280x300.png 280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /> <h2>Rasa Barkauskienė</h2> <h2>Vilnius University (Lithuania)</h2> <h2>Navigating the Complex Challenges of Adolescence: Emerging Personality Dysfunction and Its Outcomes</h2> <p>Over the past two decades, interest in the developmental aspects of early personality dysfunction has grown, driven by research demonstrating that these disorders emerge during adolescence. The introduction of the Alternative Model for Personality Disorder (AMPD) in DSM-5 Section III, along with the shift to a dimensional model in ICD-11, marks a new era in which the fully dimensional framework allows for the evaluation of personality functioning across the entire spectrum, from adaptive to maladaptive, allowing for assessment across developmental stages and disorder progression.</p><p>This presentation will focus on research from Lithuania regarding the developmental aspects of emerging personality (dys)function among young people, examining both normative and clinical populations. It will explore findings on the developmental trajectories of personality dysfunction in adolescence, with particular attention to the role of social and individual challenges in shaping these pathways and their outcomes. Lastly, potential prevention and early intervention strategies will be discussed, highlighting the importance of addressing key challenges early on to enhance prognosis in both normative and atypical populations.</p> <h2>Bio:</h2> <p>Dr. Rasa Barkauskiene is a professor of Clinical Psychology and the head of the Developmental Psychopathology Research Center at the Institute of Psychology, Vilnius University, Lithuania. Her research focuses on developmental psychopathology, particularly emerging personality disorders in youth, the effects of childhood trauma, mentalization development, and adolescents' social network experiences. Since 2016, she has led a research program in Lithuania examining personality pathology in young people and its impact on psychosocial functioning. In 2024, she joined the board of the European Association for the Study of Personality Disorders. Beyond academia, Dr. Barkauskiene has over 20 years of experience in therapeutic practice with adolescents and families. She also serves as a teaching committee member and supervisor for Lithuania's Psychodynamic Therapy for Children and Adolescents program.</p>

<h1>Keynote speaker</h1> <img src="https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-7.png" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" srcset="https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-7.png 720w, https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-7-280x300.png 280w" alt="" width="640" height="686" /> <h2>Lukas Blinka</h2> <h2>Masaryk University (Czech Republic)</h2> <h2>Youth Digital Gaming: Excessive or Expected?</h2> Digital engagement, whether through gaming or social networking, has become the predominant leisure activity and a primary means of social interaction for children and adolescents, surpassing even time spent in school. Concerns about excessive or problematic use have been widely debated. Yet, public and professional discourse often oscillates between moral panic and passive permissiveness. Drawing on current evidence, particularly from the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, this presentation will differentiate between normative, excessive, and potentially problematic digital use, with a special focus on gaming. I will show the current manifestation, prevalence, and associated risks of excessive gaming and their changes in recent years. But I will also critically evaluate the usefulness of the addiction conceptualization and symptomatology used in this context. Finally, I will advocate for a balanced, research-informed perspective that moves beyond polarized debates and toward evidence-based understanding and managing digital engagement among youth. <h2>Bio:</h2> <strong>Lukas Blinka</strong> is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the Psychology Research Institute, Masaryk University, Czech Republic. He earned his PhD in Media and Communication from the University of Tartu, Estonia, and in Psychology from Masaryk University. His research primarily explores the relationship between excessive digital media use and various social and health aspects of adolescent life - mainly within the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children project. He also investigates the distinction between problematic (gaming disorder) and excessive but non-problematic computer gaming. Recently, he has also been focusing on investigating the role of digital technology in sexual life, e.g., in the ageing population.

<h1>Keynote speaker</h1> <img width="640" height="686" src="https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ECDP-pranesejai-720-2.png" alt="" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ECDP-pranesejai-720-2.png 720w, https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ECDP-pranesejai-720-2-280x300.png 280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /> <h2>Eddie Brummelman</h2> <h2>University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)</h2> <h2>Children’s Unequal Selves: A Developmental-Psychological Perspective on Achievement Inequality</h2> <p>Achievement inequality is a defining challenge of our time. Globally, children from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds underperform in school compared to their high-SES peers, even when they have the same ability. This represents a tremendous loss of potential and perpetuates harm into adulthood. In this talk, I will use insights from developmental psychology to better understand the origins of achievement inequality. I will explore how stereotypes about the academic abilities of children from low-SES backgrounds contribute to this inequality. These stereotypes often result in discouraging feedback from teachers, including inflated praise, which can shape children’s self-views, making them believe they are less intelligent, worthy, deserving, or capable of growth. Over time, these negative self-views hinder academic success, reinforcing achievement inequality. I will discuss ways to change the context, rather than the individual, to help all children reach their full potential.</p> <h2>Bio:</h2> <p>Eddie Brummelman is an Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam, where he leads KiDLAB (<a href="https://kidlab.nl/">https://kidlab.nl/</a>). KiDLAB studies the developing self—the nature, origins, and consequences of children’s self-views. He earned his PhD at Utrecht University, did his postdoc at Stanford University, and then joined the University of Amsterdam. He is the chair of The Young Academy (De Jonge Akademie) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).</p>

<h1>Keynote speaker</h1> <img width="640" height="686" src="https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-3.png" alt="" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-3.png 720w, https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-3-280x300.png 280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /> <h2>Geertjan Overbeek</h2> <h2>University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)</h2> <h2>Youth Prevention in a Changing Society</h2> <p>In large parts of the world, prevention is considered a necessary component of a successful youth care practice. Time and again, pundits have pushed for prevention, the earlier the better. But an inconvenient truth is that together with the rise of prevention over the past decades, the prevalence of several mental health problems and stress in youths has also increased. In order to explain this paradox—and to resolve it—we need to critically reflect on different interpretations of mental health trends in youths and on how prevention is being operationalized. In this keynote, I critically reflect on the often-held perspective that youth mental health is deteriorating, and put forward a contrasting notion; that as a society we’ve developed a more encompassing view of what constitutes psychopathology, clinical-level mental health problems, and severe stress. In line with this ‘darker view’ of youth mental health, youth prevention in our changing society has developed into a screen-and-resolve kind of  ‘troubleshooting’ approach, rather than as an approach that supports the development of good health, competence, and resilience.</p> <h2>Bio:</h2> <p>Geertjan graduated in Developmental Psychology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. During his PhD, he studied how parent-child interactions early in life predicted ‘social health’ in adolescence—examining whether based on their early experience with caregivers adolescents were able to develop satisfying relationships with peers and romantic partners. His interest in child and adolescent social development never left him since.<br />From 2003 onward, he has worked tirelessly to examine how and under which circumstances, one’s early upbringing—by parents and peers—is linked to developmental outcomes.<br />In 2013, Geertjan moved to the University of Amsterdam as full professor, founding a new research lab to focus on youth prevention and developing a new master’s program on preventive youth care. The mission of the Youth Prevention Lab is to increase our knowledge about how we can stimulate the development of health, resilience and satisfying social relationships in children and adolescents worldwide.<br />Apart from being a passionate researcher, Geertjan loves teaching and tutoring and feels strongly committed to inspiring next-generation scientists and practitioners. Also, he is strongly committed to increasing the valorization of our developmental science for, and in, practice.</p>

<h1>Keynote speaker</h1> <img width="640" height="686" src="https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-5.png" alt="" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-5.png 720w, https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-5-280x300.png 280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /> <h2>Michael Pluess</h2> <h2>University of Surrey (UK)</h2> <h2>The Effects of War and Displacement on Syrian Refugee Children: Risk and Resilience</h2> <p>Millions of children across the world are affected by war and displacement. As well as having experienced traumatic war-related events, many refugee children end up living in adverse conditions with little access to basic resources. It is well established that children exposed to war and displacement are at increased risk for the development of mental health problems, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and behavioural problems. I will first introduce the <em>Biological Pathways of Risk and Resilience in Syrian Refugee Children</em> study (BIOPATH), which we conducted over the last 10 years in order to investigate the complex interplay between psychosocial and biological factors in the development of risk and resilience among a large sample of vulnerable Syrian refugee children (<em>N</em> = 1,600) living in informal refugee settlements in Lebanon. Then, I will report key findings from the BIOPATH study, including the prevalence and predictors of mental health problems, predictors of resilience, the development of resilience over time, the relationship between war exposure, hair cortisol levels and epigenetic factors (i.e., DNA methylation), as well as the role of the trait of environmental sensitivity for refugee children’s mental health.</p> <h2>Bio:</h2> <p>Michael Pluess, PhD, is a Professor in Developmental Psychology at the <em>School of Psychology</em>, <em>University of Surrey</em>. His research focuses on three areas: 1) individual differences in <em>Environmental Sensitivity</em>, the notion that some people are more affected by the same experience than others due to being more sensitive to environmental influences, 2) <em>Positive Development</em>, such as the development and evaluation of interventions aimed at promoting the development of psychological well-being in children and adults, and 3) <em>Mental Health and Resilience</em> <em>in Humanitarian Crises, </em>including longitudinal studies and randomised controlled trials on mental health interventions in humanitarian settings. His research has been published in the leading journals of the field.</p>

<h1>Keynote speaker</h1> <img width="640" height="686" src="https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-6.png" alt="" loading="lazy" srcset="https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-6.png 720w, https://www.ecdp2025vilnius.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ECDP-pranesejai-720-6-280x300.png 280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /> <h2>Livio Provenzi</h2> <h2>University of Pavia (Italy)</h2> <h2>Into the Translational Parentome: From Developmental Psychobiology to Family-centered Care </h2> <p>Human infant development is a nonlinear, dynamic, and complex process inherently embedded within the surrounding environment — both physical and social. During the first thousand days from conception, newborns become infants and later children. Through continuous interactions with their environment, they construct meanings about themselves, others, and their connections to others. Parenting — including caregiving gestures, thoughts, and emotional states—forms a unique and critical component of this surrounding environment. Infants are particularly sensitive to these interactions, which ultimately serve as both a regulatory buffer against other environmental stimuli and a transducer that facilitates their meaning-making processes. I refer to this proximal parenting environment as the parentome to emphasize its connection to various omics-related mechanisms, through which the interactions between an infant and their environment become embedded in their emerging phenotype — day by day, year by year. Today, advances in psychobiological and neuroscientific research allow us to develop a fine-tuned, deep, and multi-layered understanding of the mechanisms through which the parentome shapes human development. In my talk, I will focus on a selection of these mechanisms: from behavioral epigenetic regulation triggered by prenatal or neonatal stress to autonomic system coupling during smartphone-induced interference in mother-infant interactions; from multisensory exchanges during parent-child exploration of physical objects to the early emergence of inter-brain synchrony patterns during face-to-face interactions. Finally, I will discuss the implications of parentome science for educational and clinical settings, particularly for infants and parents facing developmental health and well-being risks. Taken together, these studies suggest that humans are highly susceptible — perhaps even fragile? — in response to environmental stimuli and that human-to-human connections are the key resource for fostering and protecting development and psychological well-being. Parents — and infant caregivers in general — are not merely a set of skills to be trained; they are a place, the space where development unfolds. Joining efforts to cultivate a shared culture of parental care is <br />essential if we aim to raise new generations capable of fostering collaborative and nurturing relationships.</p> <h2>Bio:</h2> <p>Livio Provenzi is a psychologist, psychotherapist, and Associate Professor at the University of Pavia (Italy), where he teaches Developmental Psychobiology and Developmental Psychopathology. He coordinates the Developmental Psychobiology Lab (<a href="http://www.devpsychobiology.com/">www.devpsychobiology.com</a>) of the Mondino Foundation in Pavia. He integrates methods from behavioral science, infant research, neuroendocrinology, epigenetics and neuroimaging. His research digs into the psychobiological foundations of humans’ inborn togetherness in both typical and atypical (e.g., preterm birth, sensory deficit, developmental disability) developmental conditions. A focus on the first thousand days after conception and the early parent-infant dyadic interactions further characterize the specificities of his research line. He authored more than 150 publications on international scientific journals and was awarded by Pediatric Research in 2018, Acta Paediatrica in 2021, and ICIS in 2024. Member of the Separation and Closeness Experiences in the Neonatal Environment (SCENE) international research group, he is Chief Editor of Frontiers in Pediatric Psychology. He published “Developmental Human Behavioral Epigenetics” for Elsevier in 2020 and "Psychobiological footprints through human development" for Routledge in 2024.</p>