Researchers from Amsterdam UMC, as part of the Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS) consortium, want to discover how young people can grow up 'successfully' and contribute to the current and future society. The GUTS project, led by Erasmus University Rotterdam, is receiving 22 million euros from the government for this purpose.

The researchers come from various disciplines and will study how young people develop in the areas of education, social networks and social norms. APH researchers Lucres Nauta-Jansen and Arne Popma from the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry & Psychosocial Care of Amsterdam UMC are involved.

Following young people

Nauta is pleased with the grant and explains the role of Amsterdam UMC in the consortium: "From the research line 'at risk youth' we take the lead in the research that deals with the development of antisocial behavior. 'What makes a young person not conform to our social norms and exhibit antisocial and delinquent behavior?’ That is the question we are asking in this study. We will follow a group of ‘at risk youth’ for a longer period of time, who have already committed a crime for example. We will look at which adolescents continue to develop antisocial behavior, but perhaps even more importantly: we will also look at the adolescents who then develop well. We look at brain development, but also at the influence of friends, school and society. This gives us more insight into how young people can grow up 'successfully', even when things are not going so well for a while."

GUTS

The 22 million euro from the Gravity Grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) makes it possible to continue this research. The GUTS consortium of psychologists, sociologists, child psychiatrists, pedagogues and neuroscientists, from Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Leiden University, University of Groningen, Utrecht University, Radboud UMC and the Netherlands Brain Institute, has already been working for five years.

More information

For more information, visit the GUTS website or read this article in Dutch: Hoe kunnen jongeren ‘succesvol’ opgroeien? (amsterdamumc.org)