Julia Jäkel (Jaekel)

Dr. phil. | Clin. Dipl. Psych. | Habilitation
Professor of Clinical and Developmental Psychology
Psychology

Psychology
Faculty of Education and Psychology

Julia moved to Oulu in August 2021 after six years at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, USA. She received her professional degree of clinical psychology (2004), Dr. phil. in psychology (2008), and higher doctorate/venia legendi (2015) in developmental psychology from the Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany. In addition to her professorship in Oulu, she is affiliated with the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), the University of Warwick (UK), and the University of Leicester (UK).

Julia's main research areas are early life adversity and long-term resilience. She is involved in multiple longitudinal studies of diverse populations, working with international multidisciplinary teams. Her goal is to contribute to understanding the complex mechanisms that control mental health, cognitive, academic, and social development over time, to design evidence-based avenues towards intervention. Julia's track record contains >115 publications and >1.3 million EUR received in research funding.

Research interests

long-term development; early life stress; risk and resilience; preterm birth; mental health; social behaviour; parenting; intervention; migration

Researcher information

Research groups

Researcher profiles

Selected recent publications

Jaekel, J., Jaekel, N., Härtel, C., Göpel, W., Herting, E., Felderhoff-Müser, U., Huening, B. M., & Spiegler, J. (2025, in press). Language barriers and mental health problems of preschool children born very preterm in Germany. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/dmcn.16132

Jaekel, J. (2025, in press). The role of physical activity and fitness for children’s wellbeing and academic achievement. Pediatric Research. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-024-03467-y

Baumann, N., Anderson, P. J., Johnson, S., Marlow, N., Wolke, D., & Jaekel, J. (2024). Harmonisation of assessments of attention, social, emotional, and behaviour problems using the Child Behavior Checklist and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10786184/

Jaekel, J., Dathe, A.-K., Brasseler, M., Bialas, J., Jokiranta-Olkoniemi, E., Reimann, M., Ludwig, R. J., Hane, A. A., Welch, M. G., & Hüning, B. M. (2024). Infant regulatory problems and the quality of dyadic emotional connection – a proof-of-concept study in a multilingual sample. Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.3389/frcha.2023.1304235

Jaekel, J., Heinonen, K., Baumann, N., Bilgin, A., Pyhälä, R., Sorg, C., & Räikkönen, K., Wolke, D. (2023). Associations of crying, sleeping, and feeding problems in early childhood and perceived social support with emotional disorders in adulthood. BMC Psychiatry, 23 (394). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-04854-1

Wolke, D., Baumann, N., Jaekel, J., Pyhälä, R., Heinonen, K., Räikkönen, K., Sorg, C., & Bilgin, A. (2023). The association of early regulatory problems with behavioral problems and cognitive functioning in adulthood: Two cohorts in two countries. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 64, 876-885. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13742

Contact information

E-mail

julia.jaekel@oulu.fi

Visiting address

Linnanmaa Campus, room FY 266-1

Keywords

learning disabilities social interaction Psychology multidisciplinarity multiculturalism child psychiatry Public health care science, life course and health cohort research