Esther Mertens
Guest
- Name
- Dr. E.C.A. Mertens
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 2727
- e.c.a.mertens@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0002-9279-5503
Short CV
Esther Mertens obtained her master degrees in the research master ‘Development and Socialization in Childhood and Adolescence’ and the clinical master ‘Clinical Child and Family Studies’ (with honors) at Utrecht University. She received the thesis award of the ‘Dutch association of pedagogics and education experts’ (NVO) for her thesis on heterogeneity in response to Multisystemic Therapy. After the masters, Mertens obtained a PhD at Utrecht University focusing on the effectiveness and components of universal school-based interventions.
- 2021-present: Postdoctoral researcher, Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Leiden University
- 2020-2021: Postdoctoral researcher, Clinical Child and Family Studies, Utrecht University
- 2016-2020: PhD candidate, Clinical Child and Family Studies, Utrecht University
- 2014-2016: Master Clinical Child and Family Studies, Utrecht University
- 2013-2015: Master Development and Socialization in Childhood and Adolescence, Utrecht University
Research
Her research interests focus on practice-based research. She is particularly interested in intervention development, intervention components, and factors related to differential responses to intervention. In her analyses, she aims to combine a person-centered approach, such as latent growth models, with a variable-focused approach.
Currently, Mertens is working as a postdoc on the FutureU project of the ERC Consolidator project of Prof. Dr. Van Gelder. She is involved in the development of an intervention using Virtual Reality and a smartphone app, and setting up an RCT.
Guest
- Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen
- Instituut Pedagogische Wetenschappen
- Neuropedagogiek en ontwikk. stoornissen
- Siezenga Aniek M. Mertens Esther C.A. Gelder Jean-Louis van (2025), To use and engage? Identifying distinct user types in interaction with a smartphone-based intervention, Computers in Human Behavior Reports 17: 100602.
- Mertens E.C.A. & Gelder J.-L. van (2024), The DID-Guide: a guide to developing digital mental health interventions, Internet Interventions 39: 100794.
- Mertens E.C.A., Thielmann I., Nocentini A., Siezenga A.M. & Gelder J.L. van (2024), Putting situational affordances in an intervention context: how the interaction between personality and intervention situations can help us explain differential intervention responses, PLoS One 19(12): e0309180.
- Mertens E.C.A., Siezenga A.M., Schalk J. van der & Gelder J.L. van (2023), A novel smartphone-based intervention aimed at increasing future orientation via the future self: a pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a prototype application [Smartphone intervention to foster future orientation], Prevention Science : .
- Anonymous (2023), Stevig als een rots, flexibel als water? Effectiviteit van een schoolinterventie gericht op het intrapersoonlijk en interpersoonlijk domein [Solid as a rock, flexible as water? Effectiveness of a school-based intervention addressing students' intrapersonal and interpersonal domains] (translation: Mertens E.C.A., Dekovic M., Londen M. van & Reitz E.), Jeugd in Ontwikkeling (3): .
- Siezenga A.M., Mertens E.C.A. & Gelder J.L. van (2023), A look under the hood: analyzing engagement and usage data of a smartphone-based intervention, BMC Digital Health 1: 45.
- Mertens E.C.A., Schalk J. van der, Siezenga A.M. & Gelder J.L. van (2022), Stimulating a future-oriented mindset and goal attainment through a smartphone-based intervention: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial, Internet Interventions 27: 100509.
- Gelder J.L. van, Cornet L.J.M., Zwalua N.P., Mertens E.C.A. & Schalk J. van der (2022), Interaction with the future self in virtual reality reduces self-defeating behavior in a sample of convicted offenders, Scientific Reports 12: 2254.
- Mertens E.C.A., Dekovic M., Londen M. van, Spitzer J.E. & Reitz E. (2022), Components related to long-term effects in the intra- and interpersonal domains: a meta-analysis of universal school-based interventions, Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 25(4): 627-645.
- Mertens E.C.A., Deković M., Van Londen M. & Reitz E. (2022), Parallel changes in positive youth development and self-awareness: the role of emotional self-regulation, self-esteem, and self-reflection, Prevention Science 23(4): 502-512.
- Mertens E.C.A., Deković M., Van Londen M. & Reitz E. (2022), Personality as a moderator of intervention effects: examining differential susceptibility, Personality and Individual Differences 186: 111323.
- Mertens E.C.A., Dekovic M., Van Londen M., Nye E. & Reitz E. (2022), Solid as a rock, flexible as water? Effectiveness of a school-based intervention addressing students' intrapersonal and interpersonal domains, Journal of School Psychology 92: 1-18.
- Mertens E.C.A., Siezeng A.M. & Gelder J.L. van (2022), Oog in oog met de toekomstige versie van jezelf, Kind en Adolescent Praktijk 21(4): 43-45.
- Mertens E.C.A., Siezenga A.M., Tettero T. & Gelder J.L. van (2022), A future orientation intervention delivered through a smartphone application and virtual reality: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial, BMC Psychology 10: 315.
- Mertens E.C.A., Deković M., Van Londen M. & Reitz E. (2021), The role of classmates' modeling and reinforcement in adolescents' perceived classroom peer context, Journal of Youth and Adolescence 50(2): 260-270.
- Mertens E.C.A., Deković M., Leijten P., Van Londen M. & Reitz E. (2020), Components of school-based interventions stimulating students' intrapersonal and interpersonal domains: a meta-analysis, Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 23(4): 605-631.
- Reitz E., Mertens E.C.A., Van Londen M. & Deković M. (2019), Veranderingen in sociale veiligheid, competentiebeleving en depressieve gevoelens van basisschoolkinderen die aan het interventieprogramma Rots en Water deelnemen: een vergelijkingsstudie, Tijdschrift Klinische Psychologie 49(1): 38-57.
- Mertens E.C.A., Deković M., Van Londen M. & Reitz E. (2018), The effectiveness of Rock and Water in improving students' socio-emotional adjustment and social safety: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial, BMC Psychology 6(1): 36.
- Mertens E.C.A., Deković M., Asscher J.J. & Manders W.A. (2017), Heterogeneity in response during multisystemic therapy: exploring subgroups and predictors, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 45(7): 1285-1295.