Dr. Esther Mertens

Senior Researcher
Criminology

Main Focus

Esther Mertens is interested in unravelling the active “ingredients” of mental health and behavioral intervention programs, with a specific enthusiasm for technological applications within such programs.

Curriculum Vitae

Her research interest for intervention programs and their components was evoked during her PhD at Utrecht University. After obtaining her PhD (2021), Mertens worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden University on the FutureU project of Prof. Dr. Dr. Van Gelder (2021–2024). In this project, she specialized in intervention programs implemented via smartphone applications and Virtual Reality. She joined the MPI in April 2024 as a postdoctoral researcher where she will continue her specialization in technology-based intervention programs addressing mental health and behavior.


Project

FutureU

Heads of project: Jean-Louis van Gelder, Esther Mertens
FutureU is a novel and scalable behavioral intervention to increase future-orientation in offenders by connecting them to their future self. The research program, which was started with the (Dutch) Probation Service as a partner and stakeholder, is premised on the well-established notion that… more

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