Biography
Sophie Sweijen is a postdoctoral researcher in the Society, Youth and Neuroscience Connected (SYNC) lab at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research focuses on adolescents’ social and mental wellbeing, with particular attention to prosocial behavior, societal engagement, and youth participation.
Currently, she works on the collaborative project PRAATPOWER, initiated by MIND Us and YoungXperts, which facilitates societal dialogues with youth and translates scientific insights into concrete “take actions” to empower young people and support their mental health.
During her PhD, Sophie investigated how adolescents contribute to their social environment, both within close relationships and through interactions with broader societal partners. This work resulted in her dissertation The power of prosociality: How adolescents contribute to their social environment, which she defended on September 12, 2025.
As part of her PhD, Sophie coordinated data collection in two longitudinal projects. In the ERC Consolidator Grant project Brainlinks, 142 adolescents were followed over three years using a multimethod approach, including fMRI, laboratory tasks, and questionnaires. She also worked on the Urban Rotterdam project, an online behavioral study with nine waves across four years, examining young people’s development, wellbeing, and societal engagement.
In addition, Sophie contributed to two projects commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), implementing the YoungXperts participatory research method in collaboration with organizations such as Trimbos, ECBO/ECIO, Pharos, and Utrecht University, to address performance pressure and equal opportunities among mbo-students.
Research interests: adolescence - neural development - prosocial behavior - societal contributions - wellbeing - young adulthood
Onderzoeksinteresses: adolescentie - jongvolwassenheid - maatschappelijke bijdragen - neurale ontwikkeling - prosociaal gedrag - welzijn
Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences
- sweijen@essb.eur.nl
More information
Work
- Matthijs Fakkel, Lysanne W. Te Brinke, Yara J. Toenders, Kayla H. Green, Sophie W. Sweijen, Suzanne van de Groep & Eveline A. Crone (2025) - Young people's poverty attributions: The role of demographic, socioeconomic, and psychosocial factors in the Dutch context - Personality and Individual Differences, 247 - doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2025.113441 - [link]
- Sophie Sweijen (2025) - The power of prosociality: How adolescents contribute to their social environment
- Lysanne W. te Brinke, Sophie W. Sweijen & Eveline A. Crone (2025) - Harnessing Youths' Need to Contribute to Societal Challenges: A Naturalistic Experiment - Journal of Adolescence, 97 (6), 1547-1556 - doi: 10.1002/jad.12517 - [link]
- Sophie Sweijen, Lysanne te Brinke, Suzanne van de Groep & Eveline Crone (2025) - A Longitudinal Study of Multidimensional Prosocial Behavior During Adolescence - Child Development, 96 (6), 1946-1967 - doi: 10.1111/cdev.70009 - [link]
- Suzanne van de Groep, Sophie W. Sweijen, Erik de Water & Eveline A. Crone (2025) - Corrigendum to “Temporal discounting for self and friends in adolescence: A fMRI study” [Dev. Cogn. Neurosci. 60 (2023) 1–11: 101204] (Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (2023) 60, (S1878929323000099), (10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101204)) - Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 72 - doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101511 - [link]
- Sophie W. Sweijen, Lysanne W. te Brinke, Suzanne van de Groep & Eveline A. Crone (2023) - Adolescents' trust and reciprocity toward friends, unknown peers, and community members - Journal of Research on Adolescence, 33 (4), 1422-1434 - doi: 10.1111/jora.12888 - [link]
- Sophie W. Sweijen, Suzanne van de Groep, Lysanne W. Te Brinke, Andrew J. Fuligni & Eveline A. Crone (2023) - Neural Mechanisms Underlying Trust to Friends, Community Members, and Unknown Peers in Adolescence - Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 35 (12), 1936-1959 - doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_02055 - [link]
- Kayla H. Green, Andrik I. Becht, Suzanne van de Groep, Renske van der Cruijsen, Sophie W. Sweijen & Eveline A. Crone (2023) - Socioeconomic hardship, uncertainty about the future, and adolescent mental wellbeing over a year during the COVID-19 pandemic - Social Development, 32 (3), 1092-1114 - doi: 10.1111/sode.12674 - [link]
- Suzanne van de Groep, Sophie W. Sweijen, Erik de Water & Eveline A. Crone (2023) - Temporal discounting for self and friends in adolescence: A fMRI study - Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 60, 1-11 - doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101204 - [link]
- Marjolein E. A. Barendse, Jessica Flannery, Caitlin Cavanagh, Melissa Aristizabal, Stephen P. Becker, Estelle Berger, Rosanna Breaux, Nicole Campione-Barr, Jessica A. Church, Eveline A. Crone, Ronald E. Dahl, Tracy A. Dennis-Tiwary, Melissa R. Dvorsky, Sarah L. Dziura, Suzanne van de Groep, Tiffany C. Ho, Sarah E. Killoren, Joshua M. Langberg, Tyler L. Larguinho, Lucia Magis-Weinberg, Kalina J. Michalska, Jordan L. Mullins, Hanna Nadel, Blaire M. Porter, Mitchell J. Prinstein, Elizabeth Redcay, Amanda J. Rose, Wendy M. Rote, Amy K. Roy, Sophie W. Sweijen, Eva H. Telzer, Giana I. Teresi, April Gile Thomas & Jennifer H. Pfeifer (2023) - Longitudinal change in adolescent depression and anxiety symptoms from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic - Journal of Research on Adolescence, 33 (1), 74-91 - doi: 10.1111/jora.12781 - [link]
