MRC-DTP PhD Student in Neuroscience & Mental Health
Biography
Blanca is currently a third-year PhD student in Psychology and a Gates Cambridge Scholar under the MRC Doctoral Training Programme. In a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and the University of the Basque Country, Blanca's interdisciplinary research aims to understand the role of peer and friendship groups, family support and neighbourhood cohesion in mental health during adolescence. Blanca has a background in psychology and social sciences (Psychology Major in BSc Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics, University of Amsterdam, 2018) and in cognitive neuroscience (MRes in Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 2019). In 2019 and until the start of her PhD, Blanca was working for the Blakemore lab as a research assistant.
Publications
A Neuroecosocial Perspective on Adolescent Development
- August 2023
- Annual Review of Developmental Psychology 5(1)
Susceptibility to prosocial and antisocial influence in adolescence following mindfulness training
- December 2022
- Infant and Child Development 32(1)
The relationship between perceived income inequality, adverse mental health and interpersonal difficulties in UK adolescents
- November 2022
- Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 64(3)
The impact of mindfulness training in early adolescence on affective executive control, and on later mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a randomised controlled trial
- July 2022
- Evidence-Based Mental Health
Prosocial Influence and Opportunistic Conformity in Adolescents and Young Adults
- December 2020
- Psychological Science 31(12):1585-1601
The matrix reasoning item bank (MaRs-IB): novel, open-access abstract reasoning items for adolescents and adults
Teaching and Supervisions
2023/2024:
- Advanced Statistics in R - Trainer
- Core Statistics in R - Trainer
