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Bárbara Fernandes Carvalho Figueiredo

Campus de Gualtar 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
bbfi@psi.uminho.pt | 253 604220
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Teaching
  • Associate Professor with Aggregation
    Institution
    Escola de Psicologia. Universidade do Minho
    Start date
Positions & Roles
  • Others (Ex: Appointments)
    Institution
    Escola de Psicologia. Universidade do Minho
    Start date
  • Coordenador(a) de Grupo de Investigação
    Institution
    Família e Desenvolvimento
    Start date
Resume

Our research focuses normative and non-normative developmental processes and outcomes, namely in the family context (e.g., couple relationship, co-parenting, mother/father-infant interaction, divorce, child abuse and neglect). Psychological adjustment is studied across the life span, in adults, adolescents and infants, with special attention to family transitions (e.g., divorce, school readiness, transition to parenthood). Informed by a developmental psychopathology point of view, biological (e.g., hormones, psychophysiological responses) and psychological dimensions (e.g., attachment, identity, self-regulation) are studied and conceived as synergic processes, associated with psychological adjustment (outcomes) in adults, adolescents and infants, for example to family transitions. As more recent research examples, psychological and hormonal processes (e.g., associated with breastfeeding) are conceived and studied as supporting mother and infant¿ psychological adjustment, namely reducing the risk of mother¿s postpartum depression and infant¿s sleep problems, improving mother-infant interaction, and so facilitating women transition to parenthood and infant homeostasis regulation (developmental tasks). Co-parenting is conceived and studied in association with infant adjustment (self-regulation), and inter-individual variability to normative and non-normative co-parenting is explained by endophenotypic reactivity. An emphasis is also placed in producing relevant concepts and empirical results to inform applied clinical psychology. Applied in the development of empirically and conceptually validated programs to help parents and infants in the community context. Intervention programs were developed, for example to help reducing mother's and father's depression during pregnancy and the postpartum period, to improve coparenting in couples during the transition to parenthood and the transition to divorce, to reduce adverse effects of adversity (e.g. COVID-19 pandemic) in infants mental health. Models to implement these intervention programs are tested in different contexts.
 

Education
Envolvimento emocional de mãe e pais com o bebé
Institution
Escola de Psicologia. Universidade do Minho
Education level
Título de Agregado
Depressão Pós-parto, Interacção Mãe-bebé e Desenvolvimento Infantil
Institution
Universidade do Minho. Escola de Psicologia
Education level
Doutoramento
Contextos de interacção e desenvolvimento: A interacção mãe-bebé
Institution
Faculdade de Letras. Universidade do Porto
Education level
Mestrado
Psicologia
Institution
Faculdade de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação. Universidade do Porto
Education level
Licenciatura
Language
Portuguese
French
Writing
Advanced
Spanish; Castilian
Reading
Advanced
Writing
Advanced
Listening
Advanced
English
Writing
Advanced
Listening
Advanced
Project
Laboratório
Role
Principal Investigator
Start date
Project Status
Concluded
Institution/Organization/R&D Centre
CIPsi
Funding Entity
Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia
Funding amount
€36000
Scientific Supervision
Supervisor
Type
PhD
Title/Theme
Mentalization-based intervention for children of parent(s) with borderline personality disorder
Start date
Institution
Escola de Psicologia
Supervisor
Type
PhD
Title/Theme
Beyond Infertility: an evidence-based psychological intervention to promote couples positive adjustment to unsuccessful fertility treatment
Start date
Institution
University of Cardiff. School of Psychology (UK)
Supervisor
Type
PhD
Title/Theme
Prenatal Depression, coparenting and infant self-regulation: the role of fetal-infant endophenotypic and phenotypic reactivity
Start date
Institution
Escola de Psicologia. Universidade do Minho
Supervisor
Type
Post-doctoral
Title/Theme
Neurodevelopmental outcomes of very premature infants born in Portugal
Start date
Institution
Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto e Centro de Investigação em Psicologia, Universidade do Minho
Awards
Award
Name
Prémio Investigação (triénio 2018-2020)
Year
2021
Awarded by
Escola de Psicologia. Universidade do Minho
Award
Name
IACOBUS 2019-2020 Scientific Publication Award
Year
2020
Awarded by
Euroregion Galicia - North of Portugal (EGTC, GNP)
Award
Name
European Psychiatry, ‘Editor choice’
Year
2018
Awarded by
European Psychiatry Association
Award
Name
Introduction to Gender Perspective Award
Year
2016
Awarded by
University of Santiago de Compostela Scientific Publication Award (Spain)
Award
Name
Elsevier Atlas Award. Research for a better world
Year
2016
Awarded by
Elsevier