ABOUT
​I'm Dr Nicole Creasey, a developmental psychologist and research associate at the University of Cambridge. My goal is to understand how our early experiences get 'under the skin' to shape how we think, feel, and behave. And to explore whether these processes can be 'rewired' to improve psychological wellbeing in individuals with or at-risk of mental health problems.
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I'm passionate about using research to improve the way we approach mental health as a society, from prevention through to early identification and intervention. This passion stems from my own experience of temporal lobe epilepsy, its impact on my emotions, and the missed opportunities for early diagnosis as an adolescent.
2005-2014
Pharmacy Technician specialised in health promotion services
2014-2017
BA Psychological and Behavioural Sciences
University of Cambridge
2017-2019
MSc (research)
Developmental Psychology
Leiden University
2019-2023
PhD Child Development
‘Nurturing your child’s DNA’
University of Amsterdam
2023-2024
Postdoctoral Researcher Developmental Psychopathology
University College London &
Erasmus Medical Center
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2023-
Research Associate
Infant Mental Health
Faculty of Education
University of Cambridge
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RESEARCH
My research aims to strengthen the connection between biological psychology and the prevention of mental health problems. A major focus of my work is on the role of psychosocial factors and epigenetics in how we respond to stress and its relation to mental health, which I investigate by leveraging data from birth cohort studies and preventive intervention trials.
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KEY PUBLICATIONS
EDITOR'S CHOICE ARTICLE. Creasey, N., Leijten, P., Overbeek, G., & Tollenaar, M. S. (2024). Incredible years parenting program buffers prospective association between parent-reported harsh parenting and epigenetic age deceleration in children with externalizing behavior. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 165, 107043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107043
Creasey, N., Leijten, P., Tollenaar, M. S., Boks, M. P., & Overbeek, G. (2024). DNA methylation variation after a parenting program for child conduct problems: Findings from a randomized controlled trial. Child development, 10.1111/cdev.14090. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14090.
Preregistration and research materials: https://osf.io/86wjy/
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Creasey, N., Schuurmans, I., Tsotsi, S., Defina, S., Baltramonaityte, V., Felix, J. F., Cecil, C. (2024). Prenatal stress, epigenetically-assessed glucocorticoid exposure at birth, and child psychiatric symptoms: A prospective, multi-cohort study. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/3b2kw.
Preregistration: https://osf.io/6mcy7/
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Creasey, N., Beijers, R., O'Donnell, K. J., de Weerth, C., & Tollenaar, M. S. (2024). Maternal sensitivity and child internalizing and externalizing behavior: a mediating role for glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3C1) methylation?. Development and psychopathology, 36(2), 967–978. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579423000226
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Canário, A. C., Byrne, S.*, Creasey, N.*, Kodyšová, E.*, Kömürcü Akik, B.*, Lewandowska-Walter, A.*, Modić Stanke, K.*, Pećnik, N.*, & Leijten, P. (2022). The Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Family Support across Europe: A Narrative Review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(3), 1488. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031488
*Equal contribution
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For a full list of publications please visit my ResearchGate profile.
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COLLABORATION
Research is a collaborative effort and I've been lucky enough to work with talented scientists and practitioners across Europe, North America and Asia. I'm also a member of the FAMILY consortium, the Pregnancy and childhood epigenetics (PACE) consortium, the European Family Support Network, and the Resilience Research Group global network.
Are you interested in integrating epigenetics into your work? Looking for support connecting biological psychology and intervention research? Or searching for a scientist with lived experience of mental health problems or epilepsy? Feel free to get in touch.
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To promote open and reproducible science, I routinely preregister my work and publish as many of my research materials as possible on the Open Science Framework for other researchers to use freely.
SELECTED TALKS
INVITED TALK: How parenting gets under the skin: a new look at children’s conduct problems and their prevention.
Monthly talk (May 2024), Child Protection Council, Ministry of Justice and Security, Breda, the Netherlands. Slides.
SYMPOSIUM TALK: Variation in children’s DNA methylation following an RCT of the Incredible Years parenting program.
International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development 2022 Biennial Meeting, Rhodes. Slides.
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INVITED TALK: The impact of the pandemic on Dutch families: A positive message and a cautionary tale.
EurofamNet Webinar (July 2021), 'Family support & COVID. Learning and responding from a European perspective'. Watch.
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SYMPOSIUM TALK: Parenting your baby's genes: Longitudinal effects of parenting quality on children’s DNA methylation and mental health.
Dutch Society for Developmental Psychology 7th biennial conference (May 2021), online. Slides.​
INVITED TALK: Exploring family resilience during the pandemic.
Open seminar (Jul 2020), Resilience Research Group global network, online. Slides.
Please visit my ResearchGate profile for more talks and presentations.
SOCIETAL IMPACT
Scientific findings must be translated into practice and policy to benefit society. An important step in this process is making psychological and biological research understandable to practitioners and the public through science communication. Below are some of the efforts I've made to communicate my science and its societal relevance to lay audiences. Follow me on social media for more resources, lay articles, and talks.
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As part of the Eurofam webinar "Family support & COVID. Learning and responding from a European perspective", I had the chance to talk to over a hundred practitioners about the findings of the Covid-19 Family Study and what they can teach us about how best to support families living under stressful conditions. ​
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Watch the full talk here: The impact of the pandemic on Dutch families: a positive message and a cautionary tale
Over two UCL MINDS podcasts, I discuss resilience with researchers and practitioners from across the globe.
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In the episode Family Resilience, I stress the importance of considering resilience as a network of psychosocial factors rather than an individual trait, alongside the need to shift the onus of building resilience from the individual to society.
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In the episode Resilience in Childhood and Adolescence, I highlight that research does not support the idea that adversity makes you stronger and the danger of this idea for children's development.
I moderated a lively discussion on the use of AI in mental health intervention among healthcare professionals at the FAMILY stakeholder event.
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Those I spoke with felt strongly that AI has a place in prognosing mental health problems, but must be coupled with professional supervision. They highlighted the need to clearly communicate about what risk means in a quantifiable way and to reduce the stigma around mental health problems.
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Read the full report here.
IN THE MEDIA
Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge
How our Experiences can leave Biological Traces and Influence our Mental Health
COVID MINDS
Study Shows the Resilience of Parents and Children: a Q&A with Nicole Creasey
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University of Amsterdam
How are Dutch families mentally coping with COVID 19?
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Nederlands Jeugdinstituut (Dutch Youth Insitute)
Lockdown toont veerkracht én stress bij ouders (Lockdown shows resilience and stress in parents)
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UCL MINDS Podcasts
Resilience Research Group: Family Resilience
Resilience Research Group: Resilience in Childhood and Adolescence
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TEACHING
I'm open to requests for master thesis projects, co-supervision of PhD projects, and research visits to the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge.
Delving into the biological mechanisms of mental health can be daunting for students focused on mental health practice. As a teacher, I strive to make biological psychology understandable and inspiring for all students regardless of educational background. I have a proven track record of teaching and supervising students on both research and practice-orientated masters programs in the field of child development and psychology.​
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SEMINAR LEADER (Sep 2023-present): Co-organising and moderating biweekly meetings for Bachelor and Master interns at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, Erasmus MC, to present and discuss analysis plans and research results.
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LECTURER AND WORK GROUP LEADER (Sep 2021-May 2023):
MSc Youth at Risk (University of Amsterdam), Parent and Peer Influences in Youth Development
MSc Youth at Risk MSc (University of Amsterdam), Resilience and Risk Processes in Children and Adolescents
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THESIS SUPERVISOR (Sep 2020-present): M. De Graaf, L. Batteux, R. Campenhout (Msc Preventieve Jeugdhulp en Opvoeding); S. Salitan, A. Kruk, J. Ross (MSc Youth at Risk); M. Nieterau (Research MSc Child Development)
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THESIS ASSESSOR (Sep 2020-May 2023): Z. Wolf, K. Vrolijk, F. Ommering, A. Ruevekamp (Msc Preventieve Jeugdhulp en Opvoeding); J.Vallister (MSc Youth at Risk)
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RESEARCH INTERNSHIP SUPERVISOR (Feb 2022-Jul 2022): S. De Cugno (MSc Youth at Risk)
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CLINICAL INTERNSHIP SUPERVISOR (Sep 2020-Jul 2022): R. Campenhout, N. Stibbe, L. Stikkelorum (Msc Preventieve Jeugdhulp en Opvoeding); S. Salitan, B. Grande, A. Manea (MSc Youth at Risk)
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AWARDS
Ruth Tomlinson Memorial Award sponsored by Business & Professional Women UK
to facilitate professional development as a woman with a disability
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Lucy Cavendish Research Award sponsored by the MarinaMarina foundation
to fund scientific research into the role of lifestyle and mental health factors in memory
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Ernest Hecht Charitable Foundation Scholarship
to fund higher education as a student from a disadvantaged background
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Cambridge Bursary
to fund higher education at the University of Cambridge
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