Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development
Department of Psychological Sciences
Birkbeck, University of London
w.barkhuizen@mail.bbk.ac.uk
Supervisors
Dr Angelica Ronald
Dr Emma Meaburn
Research interests
I started my PhD studentship in the Genes Environment Lifespan Lab in October 2016. My research focusses on environmental risk factors involved in psychotic experiences during adolescence using a wide range of quantitative and behavioural genetic methodologies and epidemiological designs. My initial research used data from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) to investigate the relationship between smoking tobacco and psychotic experiences like paranoia during adolescence. I also use publicly available summary results from genome-wide association studies, including from the UK Biobank, to investigate the genetic overlap and the nature of genetic associations between psychotic experiences and environmental risk factors. I am currently working with participant-level genetic data from TEDS, ALSPAC (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) and CATSS (The Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden).
Funding: Camara-Rijvers David PhD Studentship
Education
PhD Psychology
Birkbeck, University of London
2016 – 2020
MSc Early Intervention in Psychosis (distinction)
King’s College London
2015 - 2016
BSc (Hons) Psychology (first class)
Birkbeck, University of London
2009 – 2013
Publications
Barkhuizen, W., Taylor, M.J., Freeman, D., & Ronald, A. (2019). A Twin Study on the Association Between Psychotic Experiences and Tobacco Use During Adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 58(2): 267-76
Barkhuizen, W. & Ronald, A. (2017). The relationship between psychotic experiences and regular smoking during adolescence: A genetically sensitive design. In Behaviour Genetics (Vol. 47, No. 6, pp. 679-680).