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helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Helping Kids! Lab
@helpingkidslab.bsky.social
200 followers 610 following 49 posts
📍Research Lab at @UCDdublin.bsky.social, School of Psychology
|| Children. Empathy. Prosocial. Peacebuilding ||
@aspbelong.bsky.social, funded by Horizon Europe Research Ireland
‪PI @lauraktaylorphd.bsky.social‬

https://helpingkidslab.com/ 💻
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helpingkidslab.bsky.social
✨Today, we have another new member of the lab to introduce!

Meet Ellen, a post-doctoral researcher who will work on the
@aspbelong.bsky.social project! ☘️

Learn more about her here and on our website: helpingkidslab.com/who-we-are/%...

#MeettheTeam #DevPsy #PhDSky #AcademicSky #SocialPsych
November 6, 2025 at 11:07 AM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
At our #LabMeeting yesterday, we got to listen to @fannylalot.bsky.social from the University of Basel, who presented her interesting research on the influence of future consciousness on political engagement!✨✨

#SocialPsy #Socialidentity #HelpingKidsLab #Lab #Research #Developmentalpsychology
November 5, 2025 at 1:29 PM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
📢New Publication alert!

💡Youth with higher average intergroup contact levels show stronger social cohesion indicators.

💻Read the whole Article here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

@shelleymckeown.bsky.social
@lauraktaylorphd.bsky.social
@sumedhrao.bsky.social

#Research #Publication✨
November 1, 2025 at 3:45 PM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
A big Thank you to Christine Merrilees for her fantastic seminar on Fostering Empathy and Empowerment in Young People! ✨✨

Sign up now for her GIRSI Masterclass ⬇️⬇️⬇️
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
🗓️16.10. 10:00am

💡Longitudinal Data Analysis and Multilevel Modeling

@ucdgearyinst.bsky.social
October 14, 2025 at 1:52 PM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
📢 Reminder! Join us for our upcoming Event:

📆 Oct 16, 10:00am

🎙️ Speaker: Prof Christine Merrilees

💡GIRSI Masterclass: Longitudinal Data Analysis and Multilevel Modeling

💻Sign up now: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

@ucddublin.bsky.social @ucdgearyinst.bsky.social ✨✨

#Research #GIRSI #Data
October 10, 2025 at 10:18 AM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
📢 Reminder! Join us for our upcoming Seminar:

📆 Oct 14, 1:00pm

🎙️ Speaker: Prof Christine Merrilees

💡Fostering Empathy and Empowerment in Young People: A Daily Diary Study

💻Learn more: www.ucd.ie/geary/newsev...

@lauraktaylorphd.bsky.social
@ucdgearyinst.bsky.social
@ucddublin.bsky.social
October 9, 2025 at 1:21 PM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
At todays #LabMeeting, we got to listen to an amazing presentation about Izzy’s research on how children and adolescents co-construct their ideas about national and European identities!

Learn more about her work here: @iniccraith.bsky.social ✨✨

#SocialPsy #Socialidentity #HelpingKidsLab #Lab
September 30, 2025 at 4:45 PM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Today, we meet another amazing member of our Lab!

Meet Madeline, a current Master’s student and Research Assistant who will write her Thesis with us.

Learn more about her below! ⬇️☘️

#MeettheTeam #HelpingKidsLab #Research #DevelopmentalPsychology #SocialPsychology #ChildDevelopment✨✨
September 24, 2025 at 12:24 PM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Today, we are meeting Tara!

Tara started working as a Research Assistant in our Lab this September and will write her Master's Thesis with us.

See below to learn more about her interests and work in the lab ⬇️

#HelpingKidsLab #MeettheTeam #ChildDevelopment #DevelopmentalPsychology #Research ✨✨
September 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Next up in our Meet the Team series, we have Postdoctoral Researcher Yul Kwon! Learn more about him & his work at our Lab below. 🎉

#PhDSky #ChildDevelopment #DevelopmentalPsychology #Research #MeettheTeam #SocialPsych
September 22, 2025 at 3:03 PM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
📆We are delighted to invite you to three upcoming Helping Kids! Lab events in October!

💻Join us and find out more on the websites:

www.ucd.ie/geary/newsev...
www.ucd.ie/geary/newsev...

@lauraktaylorphd.bsky.social @ucdgearyinst.bsky.social @ucddublin.bsky.social ✨✨
September 18, 2025 at 11:29 AM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Yesterday, at our weekly #LabMeeting, we had the pleasure of hearing a guest talk by Dr. Samet Ata on ProAct, a collaborative board game designed to foster prosocial behaviour and socioemotional skills in adolescents and young adults.😊🎉

#HelpingKidsLab #DevPsy #PhDSky #AcademicSky #SocialPsych
September 17, 2025 at 8:42 AM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
New newsletter alert!🎉

#HelpingKids #MemberSpotlight: Meet Vivian, who has been working with us for the past 2 years and greatly contributed to the Generation Peace Project!👏

If you want to learn more about Vivian, read the newsletter at:
helpingkidslab.com/wp-content/u...

#SocialPsyc #DevPsy✨
September 12, 2025 at 12:10 PM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Helping Kids! is at @bps-social-psych.bsky.social!

Representing the lab is @iniccraith.bsky.social - sharing one talk today about her @researchireland.ie PhD, and one talk tomorrow about our #GenerationPeace study 👏

#SocialPsyc #DevPsy
September 9, 2025 at 8:34 AM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Huge congratulations to Dr. Isabelle Zammit on successfully completing her Ph.D. in Developmental & Social Psychology! We're so proud of you and can’t wait to see what you do next!
👏💫@isabellezammit.bsky.social @lauraktaylorphd.bsky.social @ucddublin.bsky.social #PhD #SocialPsychology #Psychology
September 5, 2025 at 3:49 PM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Today, we have another member of the lab to introduce! Meet Lina, a master's student from Konstanz University interning in the lab this autumn. Learn more about her here! ☘️ #DevPsy #PhDSky #AcademicSky #SocialPsych #Internship
September 5, 2025 at 9:02 AM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Helping Kids! are at #ECDP2025!

Don't miss @isabellezammit.bsky.social presenting her fantastic research this Thursday, August 28, from 3:30-5:30 in ZETA1 🤩

@eadperu.bsky.social @eadp.bsky.social @ucddublin.bsky.social @lauraktaylorphd.bsky.social

#UCDPsychOnTour #SocialPsyc #DevPsy #PhDSky
Isabelle Zammit, PhD Presentation: Assessing Young Children's Knowledge of Religious Outgroups: Cognitive and Social Influences. When: August 28, 2025, 3:30-5:30pm Where: ZETA1 Helping Kids! at EADP 2025 Annual Meeting
August 25, 2025 at 12:28 PM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Today is Noah’s last day in the lab! We will miss having him as a summer intern, but we know he is off to do great things. We are so grateful for his contributions to GenPeace, ASPbelong, and other projects. Thank you, Noah! ☺️
Thank you, Noah! Master's Student @ UvA
August 1, 2025 at 9:01 AM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Happy Thursday! For today's #ThrowbackThursday, we're looking back to a 2022 systematic review of Autistic children's prosocial behaviour. See the infographic & read the paper to learn more! 🌈 #DevPsy #Autism #Neurodiversity #PhDSky #AcademicSky #SocialPsych

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A Systematic Review of Autistic Children's Prosocial Behaviour. Questions: How do empirical studies measure Autistic children's prosocial behaviour? What knowledge does this evidence provide? Background: Prosocial behaviours (comforting, helping, sharing) lead to positive life outcomes. Methods: 30 studies in 29 articles met eligibility criteria. Data extraction, quality assessment, & narrative synthesis were conducted. Results: Common methodologies consisted of in-person paradigms, games, informant reports, & self-reports. Reliability and validity efforts were inconsistent. More positive outcomes for Autistic children engaging in prosocial behaviour than historically thought. Same frequency of engagement in prosocial behaviours as comparison groups. Conclusins: The findings encourage Autistic strength-based approaches. Future studies should use more consistent measurement tools. Diagnosis should not presume lack of prosociality in Autistic children.
July 31, 2025 at 9:04 AM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
We have another member of the lab to introduce! Meet Sophia, an undergraduate student from Boston University interning in the lab this summer. Learn more here! ☘️ #DevPsy #PhDSky #AcademicSky #SocialPsych
Sophia Lombardo, Summer Intern. Hometown: Winchester, Massachusetts. Projects: Helping Kids! Lab social media and website, systematic review coding, Oxford Handbook editing. Research interests: Socioemotional development, child psychopathology, externalizing and internalizing behaviors, and early intervention strategies. Fun fact: loves drawing, painting, and anything art-related.
July 30, 2025 at 8:37 AM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Let's meet another amazing member of our team! Nadia is a current master's student and research assistant at the lab- learn more about her below! ⬇️ #DevPsy #PhDSky #AcademicSky #SocialPsych
Nadia Ng, Master's Student & Research Assistant. Hometown: Clonee, Co. Meath; Projects: Work focusing on cross-cultural research of the development of religious belief diversity in children. Research interests: Developmental psychology, social cohesion, outgroup prosocial behaviour, impact of digital interventions for youth. Fun fact: Loves crocheting and baking.
July 29, 2025 at 8:06 AM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Today, we're meeting Dearbháile! Learn more about her & her fascinating PhD research here. 💚 #DevPsy #PhDSky #AcademicSky #Social Psych
Dearbháile Counihan, PhD Researcher. Hometown: Dublin, Ireland. Projects: Clinical psychology PhD research exploring health inequalities experienced by the Traveller population. Research interests: Intergroup relations, health inequities, mental health, psychological therapies and interventions. Fun fact: obsessed with her dog and loves sea swimming.
July 28, 2025 at 7:59 AM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
What role do symbols play in helping kids make sense of who they are?

For today's #ThrowbackThursday, we're revisiting a 2022 study comparing the symbolic knowledge of students in Irish- and English-speaking schools. Read the paper and check out our infographic to learn more! ☘️ #AcademicSky #TBT
Exploring children's knowledge of Irish and European symbols: a comparison of Irish-medium and English-medium primary school children. Focus: how school type influences children's familiarity with Irish and European symbols, and identity development. Methods: draw-and-tell technique, qualitative analysis using constant comparison. Participants: 30 9-12-yearold children in Ireland; 15 children from 2 Irish-medium primary schools and 15 children from an English-medium primary school. Irish symbols: Irish medium: the past, physical characteristics of Ireland. Shared: emblems, mythology, sports, material culture. EU symbols: Irish-medium: EU via Irish lens, cuisine. Shared: EU signifiers, currency, countries. English-medium: sports. Conclusion: by middle childhood, children from both school types show awareness of national and European symbols.
July 24, 2025 at 8:22 AM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Outside of the Helping Kids! Lab, there is plenty of new and exciting research on how children can be agents of change. We’d like to spotlight some of these recent papers in our Research Radar series. Follow along for hand-picked insights from the field! #Research #AcademicSky #PhDSky
Helping Kids! Research Radar
July 22, 2025 at 8:49 AM
helpingkidslab.bsky.social
Next let's meet Siohbán, a fantastic PhD researcher here at Helping Kids! See below to learn more about her & her ongoing research. 🌍 #DevPsy #PhDSky #AcademicSky #SocialPsych
Siohbán McEvoy, PhD Researcher. Hometown: Newry, Co Down. Projects: PhD research into the resettlement process for refugee women's networks. Research interests: Community formation, acculturation, social support, resettlement of displaced people, grassroots networks, feminist research. Fun fact: has lived and worked on 5 continents.
July 21, 2025 at 7:53 AM