About
I am primarily interested in risk factors that may make children and adolescents more susceptible to developing psychopathology. These risk factors involve: 1) child self-regulation (e.g., executive functions, emotion regulation, temperament); 2) parental factors, such as mental health issues and aspects of parenting (transgenerational transmission of mental health issues); 3) biological markers, such as genotype and epigenetic processes. I am also interested in devising and implementing early interventions to assist the more cognitively disadvantaged children in buffering the risk. I am a trained clinical neuropsychologist and have research experience working in large multidisciplinary cohort studies focusing on the above-mentioned research interests.
My current research involves examining the co-coccurrence of aggression and internalizing difficulties in children and adolescents and the role of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms in the association between early life stress, aspects of parenting and child socio-emotional difficulties.
I collaborate with researchers in Montreal and Ottawa (Canada), Amsterdam and Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Saarbrücken (Germany), Manchester (UK) and Singapore in understanding how parental mental health and parenting shapes children’s emotional competence and susceptibility to psychopathology.
I am a peer reviewer for various journals such as the Journal of Affective Disorders, the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships and Infant and Child Development.
Publications and research
Scientific publications
Oftedal, Aurora;
Tsotsi, Stella
;
Kaasen, Anne
; Kozlowski Mayerhofer, Lilian Juliane; Røysamb, Espen; Smajlagic, Dinka; Tanbo, Tom Gunnar;
Bekkhus, Mona
(2023).
Anxiety and depression in expectant parents: ART versus spontaneous conception.
Human Reproduction.
Vol. 38.
https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dead133
Tsotsi, Stella
; Goh, Shaun; Coplan, Robert J.; Bølstad, Evalill; Czajkowski, Nikolai Olavi; Smajlagic, Dinka;
Bekkhus, Mona
(2023).
Co-occurrence of internalizing difficulties and aggression in early childhood and risk of mental health problems in middle childhood.
12 p.
International Journal of Behavioral Development.
Vol. 47.
https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254231187902
Low, Ann; Yu, Yue; Sim, Lit Wee; Bureau, Jean Francois; Tan, Ngiap Chuan; Chen, Helen; Yang, Yang; Cheon, Bobby; Lee, Kerry; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian;
Tsotsi, Stella
; Rifkin-Graboi, Anne
(2023).
Maternal distress and parenting during COVID-19: differential effects related to pre-pandemic distress?.
BMC Psychiatry.
Vol. 23.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-04867-w
Rifkin-Graboi, Anne;
Tsotsi, Stella
; Syazwana, Nadhrah; Stephenson, Mary C.; Sim, Lit Wee; Lee, Kerry
(2023).
Variation in maternal sensitivity and the development of memory biases in preschoolers.
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.
Vol. 17.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1093619
Svendsrud, Hedvig; Fredriksen, Eivor; Moe, Vibeke; Smith, Lars;
Tsotsi, Stella
; Ullebø, Anne Karin; Brean, Gro Vatne;
Kaasen, Anne
;
Bekkhus, Mona
(2023).
Becoming Dad: Expectant Fathers’ Attachment Style and Prenatal Representations of the Unborn Child.
Children.
Vol. 10.
https://doi.org/10.3390/children10071187
Bekkhus, Mona
; Lee, Yunsung; Samuelsen, Sven Ove;
Tsotsi, Stella
; Magnus, Per Minor
(2022).
Maternal and paternal anxiety during pregnancy: Comparing the effects on behavioral problems in offspring.
14 p.
PLOS ONE.
Vol. 17.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275085
Tsotsi, Stella
; Borelli, Jessica L.; Backer, Mumtaz; Veragoo, Noraini; Abdulla, Nurshuhadah; Tan, Kok Hian; Chong, Yap Seng; Chen, Helen; Meaney, Michael J.; Broekman, Birit; Rifkin-Graboi, Anne
(2021).
Preschoolers’ emotion reactivity and regulation: Links with maternal psychological distress and child behavior problems.
Development and Psychopathology.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421000936
Tsotsi, Stella
; Rifkin-Graboi, Anne; Borelli, Jessica L.; Chong, Yap Seng; Rajadurai, Victor Samuel; Chua, Mei Chien; Broekman, Birit; Meaney, Michael; Qiu, Anqi
(2021).
Neonatal brain and physiological reactivity in preschoolers: An initial investigation in an Asian sample.
Journal of Psychiatric Research.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.11.010
Rifkin-Graboi, Anne; Goh, Shaun Kok-Yew; Chong, Hui Jun;
Tsotsi, Stella
; Sim, Lit Wee; Tan, Kok Hian; Chong, Yap Seng; Meaney, Michael J.
(2021).
Caregiving adversity during infancy and preschool cognitive function: adaptations to context?.
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S2040174420001348
Delgadillo, Desiree; Borapai, Sameen; Pressman, Sarah D.; Goldstein, Alison; Bureau, Jean-François; Schmiedel, Sabrina; Backer, Mumtaz; Broekman, Birit; Tan, Kok Hian; Chong, Yap Seng; Chen, Helen; Zalta, Alyson K.; Meaney, Michael J.; Rifkin-Graboi, Anne;
Tsotsi, Stella
; Borelli, Jessica L.
(2021).
Maternal expressions of positive emotion for children predicts children’s respiratory sinus arrhythmia surrounding stress.
Developmental Psychobiology.
https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22082