About our research group/lab
Our research
The main research areas of the Psychiatric Epidemiology group are common psychiatric disorders and complaints, involving the topics of depression, anxiety, grief, stress and sleep.
We mostly work with
- longitudinal data collected in the prospective population-based cohort
the Rotterdam Study (aged 40 years and above)
- the birth cohort Generation R (children and their parents followed from birth onwards).
Common psychiatric disease
Depression, anxiety, stress and grief are common problems in the population that typically carry a large burden of disease.
The work of our group determines:
- prevalence,
- associations across mental health disorders
- associations with other aspects of health and lifestyle over time.
We additionally use imaging and genetic approaches to understand the biology of these heterogeneous disease phenotypes.
Sleep and health
Using data from both cohorts we aim to assess the etiology of sleep problems and disentangle its role in developing mental and physical health problems, mostly employing subjective and objective data collected on sleep (including actigraphy and polysomnography) and health in the Rotterdam Study and Generation R. In addition, we use interventional research using cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia to develop preventative and treatment strategies.
Key Publications
Funding & Grants
Our team
Principal Investigator:
Team
PhD student:
I.K. (Isabel) Schuurmans
S.J.W. (Sanne) Hoepel
F. (Fangxiang) Mao
