Riikka Korja
Psykoterapeutti, Kehityksen ja kasvatuksen erikoispsykologi
riipen@utu.fi Assistentinkatu 7 Turku ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6833-1565(external) |
Topics: Child development, self-regulation, family, parenting, pregnancy, prenatal programming, preterm birth, psychotherapy, family interventions
Projects: CoE-InterLearn, FinnBrain-project, PIPARI-project and STEPS-study
Riikka Korja is a professor of developmental psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Turku. She is the principal investigator for the Child Development and Parenting sub-study in the FinnBrain project and the group leader for the Centre of Excellence in Learning Dynamics and Intervention Research (InterLearn) at the University of Turku consortium. Additionally, Korja is the senior investigator in the research on digital developmental monitoring of preterm infants (ePIPARI, pediatric diseases at TYKS).
In her research, Korja aims to comprehensively investigate both protective and vulnerable factors in child development, as well as the underlying mechanisms of child development. The Child Development and Parenting sub-study of the FinnBrain project explores the psychological development of children and the environmental factors and biological processes influencing this development. Of particular interest is the development of a child's self-regulation.
In the CoE InterLearn the focus is on understanding the cognitive, and socio-emotional developmental pathways associated with learning difficulties and the mental health problems linked to them. This research also investigates the environmental factors connected to these pathways and how they explain later-life functioning and well-being.
Korja is the team leader for clinical education in the department of psychology. As the responsible teacher, she is involved in courses such as Psychological Interventions and Psychotherapy, Developmental Psychology II, and Early Development and Family Relationships. Additionally, Korja acts as the responsible professor in the three-year professional training program for Children and Youth Specialized Psychologists in PSYKONET.
- Childcare context and socio-emotional development in toddlers - a quantitative report from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Finland (2023)
- European Early Childhood Education Research Journal
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Course of child social-emotional and sleep symptoms, parental distress and pandemic-related stressors during COVID-19 (2023)
- Development and Psychopathology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Higher attention bias for fear at 8 months of age is associated with better socioemotional competencies during toddlerhood (2023)
- Infant Behavior and Development
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Investigating the role of relationship satisfaction and paternal psychological distress during pregnancy on offspring health in early life (2023)
- BJPsych Open
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - “I Try to Think Behind My Child’s Cry”: Preparation for Separation Experiences in the Light of Parental Mentalization (2023)
- Journal of infant, child, and adolescent psychotherapy
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Latent profile analysis of diurnal cortisol patterns at the ages of 2, 3.5, and 5 years: Associations with childcare setting, child individual characteristics, and maternal distress (2023)
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Maternal executive functioning is associated with infant sustained attention, but not executive functioning, in a sex-specific manner (2023)
- Nordic Psychology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Maternal Perinatal Stress Trajectories and Negative Affect and Amygdala Development in Offspring (2023)
- American Journal of Psychiatry
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Mother–infant interaction and maternal postnatal psychological distress are associated with negative emotional reactivity among infants and toddlers— A FinnBrain Birth Cohort study (2023)
- Infant Behavior and Development
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Parental Narratives of Bonding and Relational Experiences with Preterm Infants Born at 23 to 24 Weeks-A Qualitative Descriptive Study (2023)
- Children
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Sense of coherence, its components and depressive and anxiety symptoms in expecting women and their partners – A FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study (2023)
- Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Structural brain correlates of non-verbal cognitive ability in 5-year-old children: Findings from the FinnBrain birth cohort study (2023)
- Human Brain Mapping
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Trajectories of COVID-19 pandemic-related depressive symptoms and potential predictors: the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study (2023)
- Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Web-based follow-up tool (ePIPARI) of preterm infants-study protocol for feasibility and performance (2023)
- BMC Pediatrics
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Early pathways of maternal mentalization: Associations with child development in the FinnBrain birth cohort study (2022)
- Frontiers in Psychology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Feasibility of FreeSurfer Processing for T1-Weighted Brain Images of 5-Year-Olds: Semiautomated Protocol of FinnBrain Neuroimaging Lab (2022)
- Frontiers in Neuroscience
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Fewer maternal depression symptoms after the Close Collaboration with Parents intervention: Two-year follow-up (2022)
- Acta Paediatrica
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Individual differences in pupil dilation to others' emotional and neutral eyes with varying pupil sizes (2022)
- Cognition and Emotion
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Infant fecal microbiota composition and attention to emotional faces (2022)
- Emotion
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Maternal sensitivity at the age of 8 months associates with local connectivity of the medial prefrontal cortex in children at 5 years of age (2022)
- Frontiers in Neuroscience
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)