Postdoc: mental health in parents and the impact of COVID-19 measures

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on parents. School and childcare closures, balancing work and homeschooling, and reduced social support led to mental health struggles for many. While many parents showed resilience, others may experience long-term mental health problems, affecting both their wellbeing and their children’s development. The project ‘Pandemic Impact and Caregivers Outcomes (PICO): mental health and equity in families’ investigates how the pandemic affected mental health of parents with children at preschool age (0-4 years), school-age (4-12 years) and adolescence (12-18 years). This study has a repeated cross-sectional design, using Gezondheidsmonitor Volwassenen en Ouderen data from five waves between 2012 and 2024. The project aims to examine:

1. Potential changes in parental mental health before, during, and after the pandemic;
2. Socioeconomic, cultural and gender differences in parental mental health;
3. How factors like social support, family characteristics and resilience explain these mental health differences.

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will play a key role in the PICO project. You will provide insights into mental health inequalities and identify risk and protective factors, helping to inform interventions in future pandemics or other crisis situations. By joining us, you will become part of a dynamic and enthusiastic team of researchers committed to making a real impact in the field of mental health. You will closely collaborate with researchers of the COVID-19 measures on Child Outcomes (COCO) project, a mixed-method study on the medium-term impact of the COVID-19 measures on health and development of preschool children and mental health of their parents.

Your duties
As the postdoctoral researcher, you will be the driving force behind this project, supervised by Maartje Basten, Maartje van Stralen and Elke Vlemincx, experts in epidemiology, mental health and cohort studies. Together with the research team, you will conduct data analyses to uncover key insights into mental health inequalities and report your findings through a final report and scientific articles. Your responsibilities will include:

• Setting up and conducting statistical analyses using large datasets from five waves of Gezondheidsmonitor Volwassenen en Ouderen, within the secure microdata Remote Access Environment of Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
• Presenting findings at national and international conferences and publishing them in one or more scientific articles.
• Disseminating the findings to the general public and specific target groups by developing factsheets together with parents and participating in activities organized within the COCO-project.
• Collaborating closely with researchers from the COCO project, as well as other mental health researchers in the department Health Sciences.
• Supervising BSc and MSc internships on related topics.
• Budget is available for training and development to support your professional growth.

Requirements:

• A PhD or nearly completed PhD in Health Sciences, Public Health, Epidemiology, Psychology, or a related field;
• Affinity with mental health, health disparities and child development;
• Expertise in epidemiology and statistics, including experience in linear and logistic regression analyses and effect modification/interaction;
• Strong analytical skills, with a proactive and eager-to-learn attitude;
• Ability to work independently and as part of an interdisciplinary team;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English; proficiency in Dutch is a plus.
• Experience in data analysis within the secure microdata Remote Access Environment of Statistics Netherlands (CBS) is desirable

As a university, we strive for equal opportunities for all, recognising that diversity takes many forms. We believe that diversity in all its complexity is invaluable for the quality of our teaching, research and service. We are always looking for talent with diverse backgrounds and experiences. This also means that we are committed to creating an inclusive community so that we can use diversity as an asset.

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not meet all the requirements.

Salary Benefits:

A challenging position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

• a salary of minimum € 3.378,00 (Scale 10) and maximum € 5.331,00 (Scale 10) gross per month, on a full-time basis. This is based on UFO profile Researcher 4. The exact salary depends on your education and experience.
• a position for 0.8 FTE, with an employment contract of 1 year.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and regulations. Some examples:

• A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• discount on (and occasionally exclusive access to) theater performances and courses at the Griffioen Cultural Center
• a wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge
• space for personal development

Van der Boechorststraat 7