Minja Westerlund, PhD

Academic Portfolio

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Born: 14.4.1983, Turku (Finland)                                           
Nationality: Finnish 
Current residence: Turku  

minja.westerlund@abo.fi
linkedin.com/in/minjawesterlund/

Education and degrees awarded

16.06 2020               Doctoral degree in Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Finland
27.06 2008               Master’s degree in Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Finland
31.07 2007               Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Finland
07.06 2003               Matriculation exam, Katedralskolan i Åbo, Finland

Other qualifications

11.8 2008     Licensed psychologist
(National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health, Valvira, Finland)

Current position

  • Senior Researcher, 15.09.2023- ;
    University of Turku, INVEST Flagship project, Faculty of Medicine / Research Centre for Child Psychiatry.

Teaching

Important principles when designing my teaching are the encouragement of critical thinking, Socratic inquiry, validation, reinforcement of participation and agency, solution-oriented guidance, functional working methods, an equitable learning environment, effective use of illustrative material, humor in appropriate amounts. I regularly receive positive feedback from students on my teaching (see example of student feedback report in annex).

Merits in teaching and pedagogical competence

Merits in teaching:

2025    Clinical phenomenona: Crises and trauma (2 ECTS), course developer & lecturer, Åbo Akademi University (planned 10/2025)
2025    Public Mental Health in Humanitarian Crises (3 ECTS), course co-director & lecturer, University of Turku
2024    Global and local public mental health and leadership (3 ECTS), course director & lecturer, University of Turku
2023    Mental Health Course (2 days), consultant & lecturer, Médecins Sans Frontières
2023    Clinical phenomenona: Crises and trauma (2 ECTS), course director & lecturer, Åbo Akademi University
2022    Mental Health Course (10 days), arranger & lecturer, Médecins Sans Frontières
2021    Mental Health Course (10 days), lecturer, Médecins Sans Frontières
2020    PTSD/Long-term effects (5 ECTS), course director & lecturer, Åbo Akademi Open University
2019    Behavioral science research (5 ECTS), course director & lecturer, Åbo Akademi University
2019    Clinical phenomenona: Crises and trauma (2 ECTS), course developer & lecturer, Åbo Akademi University
2018    Research project: Methods (5 ECTS), course director & lecturer, Åbo Akademi University
2017    Clinical phenomenona: Crises and trauma (2 ECTS), course developer & lecturer, Åbo Akademi University
2017-2020 Guest lecturer (à 2 h) on the courses: Psychological treatment of adults, Central Clinical Skills, Behavioral science research (Åbo Akademi University)

Pedagogical and management trainings:

2024    Basics in Pedagogy (2 ECTS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku
2018    Teaching and mentoring in theory & practice (5 ECTS), Åbo Akademi University
2018    Strategic Management (5 ECTS), Åbo Akademi University
2018    Human Resource Management (5 ECTS), Åbo Akademi University
2017    Organisation and Management (5 ECTS), Åbo Akademi University

Leadership and supervision experience

  • Secondary supervisor for Doctoral thesis: 2 ongoing
  • Primary supervisor for Master’s thesis: 2 (graduated 2020), 3 ongoing
  • Secondary supervisor for Master’s thesis 4 (graduated 2019-2021)
  • Primary supervisor for Bachelor’s thesis: 9 (graduated 2017-2020) (names withheld due to GDPR)

Scholarship and research

Awards, prizes, and honors

  • The Academic Prize (Akademikerpriset) for excellent scientific merits in connection
    with the doctoral thesis, 5000 €, from the Åbo Akademi Alumni Association, 25.01.2020

Publications

  • Sourander, A., Li, Y., Sourander, S., Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki, S., Kinnunen, M., Ristkari, T., Westerlund, M., & Baumel, A. (submitted). Two-year Effectiveness of Digital Telephone-Assisted Training for Parents of 4-Year-Old Children when Implemented in the Real World.
  • Silwal, S.*, Westerlund, M.*, Osokina, O., Ivnyev, B., Ahramo, K., Ortin-Peralta, A., & Sourander, A. (submitted). Mental health of Ukrainian children and adolescents during the Russian-Ukrainian war: A scoping review.
  • Zhang, X., Mori, Y., Abio, A., Khorasani, Z. K., Gilbert, S., Grimland, M., Bezborodovs, N., Wan Mohd Yunus, W. M. A., Silwal, S., Westerlund, M., Praharaj, S. K., Ndetei, D. M., Kaneko, H., Heinonen, E. & Sourander, A. (submitted). Cross-national Research on Adolescent Mental Health: A Systematic Review Comparing Research in Low-, Middle-, and High-income Countries.
  • Silwal, S.*, Westerlund, M.*, Wan Mohd Yunus, W. A. M., Jaakola-Siimes, S., Brunstein Klomek, A. & Sourander, A. (submitted). Suicides, suicide attempts and suicidal ideations among children and young people exposed to war: A systematic review.
  • Westerlund, M., Lamminpää, S. & Finnilä, K. (submitted). Factors Related to The Likelihood of Psychologists Using Exposure Interventions in The Treatment of Anxiety Disorders.
  • Westerlund, M., Antfolk, J. & Santtila, P. (submitted). Brief Emotion Regulation Strategies Affect Emotions Related to Reminders of a Terror Attack in the Affected Population.
  • Sourander, S., Westerlund, M., Baumel, A., Kurki, M., Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki, S., Sourander, A. (in press). Two-year Follow-up of Internet-based Parent Training with Telephone Coaching Aimed at Treating Child Disruptive Behaviors in a Clinical Setting during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Medical Internet Research.
  • Silwal, S., Westerlund, M., Osokina, O., Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki, S., Hodes, M., Skokausas, N. & Sourander, A. (in press). Bullying victimization among adolescents during the early phase of war in Ukraine. Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
  • Sourander, A., Westerlund, M., Kaneko, H., Heinonen, E., Brunstein Klomek, A., How Ong, S., Fossum, S., Kolaitis, G., Lesinskiene, S., Li, L., Huong Nguyen, M., Kumar Praharaj, S., Wiguna, T., Zamani, Z., Gilbert, S. & EACMHS Study Group. (in press). Cross-cultural comparison of the Strengths and Difficulties Self-Report Questionnaire in 12 Asian and European Countries. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
  • Dorison, C.A., Lerner, J.S., Heller, B.H. et al.  (2022). In COVID-19 Health Messaging, Loss Framing Increases Anxiety with Little-to-No Concomitant Benefits: Experimental Evidence from 84 Countries. Affective Science, 3(3), 577-602. doi:10.1007/s42761-022-00128-3
  • Psychological Science Accelerator Self-Determination Theory Collaboration (2022). A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(22) e2111091119. Doi:10.1073/pnas.211109111

 

  • Wang K., Goldenberg A., Dorison, C.A., Miller, J.K., Uusberg, A., Lerner, J.S., Gross, J.J., Agesin, B.B., Bernardo, M., Campos, O., Eudave, L., Grzech, K., Ozery, D.H., Jackson, E.A., Luis Garcia, E.O., Drexler, S.M., Jurković, A.P., Rana, K., Wilson, J.P., …Westerlund, M., Moshontz, H. (2021). A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nature Human Behavior, 5, 1089–1110. doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01173-x
  • Kaskikallio, A., Jern, P. & Westerlund, M. (2021). HEXACO-PI-R-persoonallisuuskyselyn suomenkielisen version psykometriset ominaisuudet: komponenttirakenne ja reliabiliteetit [Psychometric qualities of the Finnish HEXACOPI-R: Component structure and reliabilities]. Psykologia, 56, 319-371.
  • Westerlund, M., Santtila, P. & Antfolk, J. (2020). Regulating Emotions under Exposure to Negative Out-Group-Related News Material Results in Increased Acceptance of Out-Groups. Journal of Social Psychology, 160(3), 357-372. doi: 10.1080/00224545.2019.1675575.
  • Walldén, C., Westerlund, M., Gunst, A., Santtila, P., & Antfolk, J. (2020). Finding the Mating Gear: The Development and Validation of a Mate Access Scale. Evolutionary psychology, 18(3), 1474704920935583. doi.org/10.1177/1474704920935583
  • Westerlund, M., Antfolk, J., & Santtila, P. (2019). Negative views of out-groups and emotion regulation strategies: Evidence for an association with the tendency to suppress emotion expression, but not with cognitive reappraisal or emotion dysregulation. Current Psychology, 40, 5094–5105. doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00430-7
  • Antfolk, J., Johansson, L., Westerlund, M., Marcinkowska, U. M. & Santtila, P. (2018). The role of intra-sexual competition in attitudes towards immigrants. Personality and Individual Differences, 132, 84-89. doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.05.029
  • Westerlund, M. & Santtila, P. (2018). A Finnish adaptation of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16). Nordic Psychology, 70, 304-323. doi.org/10.1080/19012276.2018.1443279
  • Westerlund, M., Santtila, P., Johansson, A., Jern, P., & Sandnabba, N. K. (2012). What steers them to the “wrong” crowd? Genetic control of adolescents’ sexual socialization experiences. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9, 645-664. doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2012.658631
  • Ålgars, M., Santtila, P., Jern, P., Westerlund, M., & Sandnabba, N.K. (2011). Sexual body image and its correlates: A population-based study of adult women and men. International Journal of Sexual Health, 23, 13-21. Doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2010.509692
  • Westerlund, M., Santtila, P., Johansson, A., Varjonen, M., Witting, K., Jern, P., Alanko, K., & Sandnabba, K. (2010). Does unrestricted sociosexual behaviour have a shared genetic basis with sexual coercion? Psychology, Crime & Law, 16, 5-23. doi.org/10.1080/10683160802621925

*shared first authorship

Projects and collaborations

2024- Effective vaccine communication strategies for healthcare professionals: Leveraging novel approaches (Turku Institute for Advanced Studies [TIAS] funded project for Dr. Linda Karlsson). Collaborator on the topic of emotion regulation.

2023- Reconnected – a complex system approach towards REsilient and CONNECTED vulnerable European communities in times of change (EU-Horizon-funded consortium of 11 European partners). Researcher, co-coordinator at Research Centre for Child Psychiatry

Conference presentations

Westerlund, Minja. Reconnected: CEMA study presentation. Presented at the INVEST Conference 2024: Digitalization, social inequality and behavioural change (Turku, Finland, 17 May 2024)

Westerlund, M. & Santtila, P. ‘Peer Group Sexual Attitudes – Preliminary evidence
for Gene-Environment Correlation’. Presented at the 13th International Congress on Twin Studies (Seoul, South Korea, 04-07 June 2010)

Poster presentations

Westerlund, M., Antfolk, J. & Santtila, P. Regulating emotional reactions when reminded of a terror attack influences out-group attitudes in the affected population.
Presented at the 1st Psychology & Law Open Science Conference, 04-05 February 2019
at Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research (IGDORE) in Bali, Indonesia.

Westerlund, M. & Santtila, P. Does Emotion Regulation Affect Attitudes toward Outgroups? Presented at the Annual Meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 01-03 March 2018 in Atlanta, USA

Organization of Conferences/Symposia

Åbo Akademi Doctoral Training Network for Minority Research Interdisciplinary workshop: Co-organizer (Turku, 19-20 January 2018)

INVEST Conference: Uncertainty and Resilience in Changing Society: Scientific committee member (Turku, 14-16 May 2025)

INVEST conference: Digitalization, social inequality and behavioural change: Chairing session on Cross-cultural Research on Mental Health (Turku, 17th May 2024)

Other key scientific or academic merits

  • Ad hoc reviewer for Nordic Psychology, Current Psychology, BMC Psychology, Basic and Applied Social Psychology, Psykologia, PLOS Mental Health

SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY AND THE COMMUNITY

Positions of trust in society and other societal merits

  • 2025- Researcher member of the executive team, INVEST Research Flagship Centre, University of Turku and National Institute of Health and Welfare (THL)
  • 2024- Member of the Educational Planning Committee (TST), Master program in Public Mental Health, University of Turku
  • 2024- Member of the Turvalliset kadut-working group to prevent youth street gangs, National Institute of Health and Welfare (THL)
  • 2024- Member of the steering group, Master program in Public Mental Health, University of Turku
  • 2019- Member of the Médecins Sans Frontières Finland Advisory Board
  • 2017-2019 Member of the Board for Research and Education, Åbo Akademi University
  • 2019-2020 Member of the Board of Research at the Faculty of Arts, Psychology and Theology at Åbo Akademi University

Media performances (selection)

 
  • Mental Health Dialogues: Mental health for all: how to reach vulnerable groups in research (2025, February 4; panel member). Webinar series jointly organised by 7 big EU sister projects under the umbrella call “Mental Health in a Changing Europe” funded by Horizon Europe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsTEUhEZdXo
 

Annexes

• 02_Lecture 6_Community-Based Mental Health Services.pdf
• 03_Seminar 1_Introduction to Emergency MHPSS.pdf
• 04_Crisis-and-trauma-curriculum.jpg
• 05_Cross-cultural comparison of the Strengths and Difficulties Self-Report Questionnaire in 12 Asian and European Countries _JAACAP.pdf