Research Interests

We conduct research on the following topics:

Child abuse and neglect, its risk assessment, and its consequences on child development and family functioning
Forensic-psychological assessment in family law proceedings
Assessing the voice of the child in legal proceedings according to th UNCRC
Development of aggressive and antisocial behavioral problems, its associations with socio-emotional development, callous-unemotional traits
anti-democratic attitudes in adolescents and emerging adults, moral-democratic identity

Our research designs comprise longitudinal as well as cross-sectional studies, with samples often targeting highly vulnerable populations.

Our Research in More Detail

Child Abuse and Neglect, its Risk Assessment, and its Consequences on Child Development and Family Functioning

Our research in this field aims to advance evidence-based standards in forensic-psychological assessment in child protection proceedings. We established data infrastructures with federal and state ministries to enable an ongoing longitudinal study on forensic-psychological expert assessments concerning the risk of future child abuse and neglect, court decisions, and child outcomes in child maltreatment cases. Further, we have conducted meta-analytical work on associations between parental psychopathology and personality disorders as risk factors for child maltreatment. In our current studies, we focus especially on the assessment, prevention, and consequences of child emotional abuse as the most understudied form of child maltreatment. Drawing on child developmental theory, we also conduct empirical work on how children express their voices and needs consistent with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, aiming to strengthen the empirical basis of promoting children’s rights.

Development of Aggressive and Antisocial Behavior Problems

We investigate developmental pathways to aggression and antisocial behavior, focusing on the interplay between biological risk factors (e.g., prematurity and low birth weight), emotion regulation and callous-unemotional traits, and parental influences. For example, longitudinal analyses demonstrated that both early emotion dysregulation and hyperactivity function as key mediating mechanisms linking early risk factors—such as adverse parenting styles and birth risks (e.g., prematurity)—to the development of aggression and delinquent behavior in later childhood/adolescence. Complementary work has examined cognitive and affective mechanisms underlying moral development and social adjustment among young offenders and children at risk.

Emergence of Anti-Democratic Attitudes in Young People

In this line of research, we explore how antidemocratic attitudes emerge among adolescents and emerging adults. We focus on the cognitive and emotional processes that shape moral reasoning and contribute to the development of a moral-democratic identity. Particular attention is given to understanding the formation of antidemocratic orientations and their psychological underpinnings. The project bridges forensic psychology, addressing issues such as politically motivated offending, and ideological violence, with developmental psychology, which examines identity formation, moral development, and cognitive processes underlying value-based decision-making.

Current Funded Projects

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation)

Timeline: 2023-2026

Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Jelena Zumbach-Basu

Research Assisstants: M.Sc. Lara Schwarz, M.Sc. Antonia Schubert, Dipl.-Psych. Meike Katharina Zell, M.Sc. Lina Rustemeyer

Objective:

The scope of judicial decisions on protective measures in child protection proceedings is undoubtedly very large. A missed intervention to protect the child can have just as serious consequences as the wrongful removal of a child from its family of origin. Psychological expert assessments can provide important findings in the relevant child protection proceedings. Experience shows that they may carry great weight in the judicial decision-making process. However, the scientific community has criticized the fact that there is still a lack of systematic knowledge on the reliability and validity of child maltreatment risk assessments by psychological experts and family courts. However, such findings could contribute significantly to improving the accuracy of decisions in child protection proceedings.

In the PROSPECT study, first, we examine the reliability of psychological child maltreatment risk assessments. We analyze how the decisions made by family courts are based upon these assessments. The second focus of the study lies on examining the mental health and quality of life of children and adolescents who undergo child protection proceedings. We examine how these factors relate to the recommendations of psychological experts and the decisions of family courts on child protection measures. Third, we analyze whether the expert recommendations are implemented by the courts in practice and which indicators the courts use as a basis for their decisions. This project lays the foundation for future longitudinal data collection. The study is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Justice and all sixteen German state justice administrations.

For further information see: www.phb.de/prospect-studie

Recently Completed Projects

Funding: German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth / Independent Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse Issues (UBSKM)

Timeline: 2024-2025

Principal Investigators: Prof. Dr. Jelena Zumbach-Basu, Prof. Dr. Renate Volbert

Research Assisstants: M.Sc. Anna-Luisa Sahlfeld, Dr. Jonas Schemmel, M.Sc. Asne Senberg, Dipl.-Psych. Meike Katharina Zell

Objective:

Sexual violence against children poses a significant risk of impairment of further psychological development, from which children must be effectively protected. Family courts have the power to intervene to ensure protection from sexual violence and other threats to children's welfare. However, family courts are also confronted with particular challenges. While the main focus in criminal proceedings is on the previous conduct of alleged perpetrators and the court must be convinced that they committed the offense, whereby unresolvable doubts must be interpreted in dubio pro reo, the future protection of a child is the main focus in family court proceedings. The strict standard of proof that we know from criminal proceedings does not apply here.

A wrong decision in a child protection proceeding is ultimately always to the detriment of the child's wellbeing: the risk that a child is exposed to the danger of further (sexual) abuse and thus a considerable likelihood of future impairments if this risk is not averted is obvious. Conversely, long-term family interventions such as placement of the child in forster care or the prevention of in person contact between a child and a parent, which would not have been necessary to protect the child, are also detrimental to the child's wellbeing (see Dettenborn, 2001; Dettenborn & Walter, 2015; Kindler & Eschelbach, 2014).

This feasibility study aims to investigate which research method can be applied to create the best empirical basis to answer research questions on the course of family court proceedings in which allegations of sexual violence occur. The research questions cover the following four areas:

Questions on case constellations and their frequencies;
Questions on the significance of psychological expert opinions;
Questions on the family court's own examination;
Questions on court decisions and their frequencies.

The aim is a) to determine the possibility of a comprehensive quantitative content analysis of family court files and b) to outline a qualitative survey with judges on their experiences and ways of handling cases in which allegations of sexual violence occur.