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Peer-Reviewed Publications
Vacaru, S.V., Eckermann, H., Graat, G., & de Weerth, C. (2025). A healthy start: the contribution of caregiving quality to child physical health from 0-14 years. Current Psychology.
10.1007/s12144-025-08350-5
Vacaru, S.V., Waters, T.E.A., & Hunnius, S. (2025). Attachment is in the eye of the beholder: a pupillometry study on emotion processing. Scientific Reports.
Gravesteijn B.Y., Vacaru, S.V., et al. (2025), Choosing for a homebirth during COVID-19 lockdown in the Netherlands, who and why: a national prospective study. Midwifery.
10.1016/j.midw.2025.104361
Rheinheimer, N., Vacaru, S.V., & de Weerth, C. (2025). The effect of outdoor walking and maternal proximity on infant and maternal physiological and behavioral outcomes. Journal of Environmental Psychology
10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102527
Vacaru, S.V., Scatolin, S., van den Heuvel, M., Beijers, R., & de Weerth, C. (2023). Breastfeeding and room-sharing during COVID-19 and the role of perinatal healthcare support. Early Human Development.
10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2023.105812
Willemsen, Y., Vacaru, S.V., Beijers, R., & de Weerth, C. (2023). Are adolescent nutritional behaviors predicted by a history of maternal caregiving and child inhibitory control? Appetite.
10.1016/j.appet.2023.107020
Vacaru, S.V., van Wingerden, E., Holstege, L., & Sterkenburg, P.S. (2023). Hey Google! Intelligent personal assistants and well-being in the context of disability during COVID-19. Journal of Intellectual
Disability Research.
Willems, L. D., Vacaru, S.V., Hokke, H., Sterkenburg, P.S. (2022). A scoping literature review on compassion-focused therapy for individuals with intellectual disability. OBM Integrative & Complementary Medicine.
10.21926/obm.icm.2203037
Schröer, L., Çetin, D., Vacaru, S.V., Addabbo, M., van Schaik, J.E., & Hunnius, S. (2022). Infants’ sensitivity to emotional expressions in actions: The contributions of parental expressivity and motor experience. Infant Behavior & Development.
10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101751
Bruinhof, N., Vacaru, S.V., van den Heuvel, M.I., de Weerth, C., & Beijers, R. (2022). Prenatal hair cortisol concentrations during the COVID-19 outbreak: Associations with maternal psychological stress and infant temperament. Psychoneuroendocrinology.
10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105863
van den Heuvel, M.I., Vacaru, S.V., Boekhorst, M.G., Cloin, M., van Bakel, H., Riem, M.M., … & Beijers, R. (2022). Parents of young infants report poor mental health and more insensitive parenting during the first COVID-19 lockdown. BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth.
10.1186/s12884-022-04618-x
Vacaru, S.V., Beijers, R., & de Weerth, C. (2022). Internalizing symptoms and family functioning predict adolescent depressive symptoms during COVID-19: A longitudinal community sample. PlosOne.
10.1371/journal.pone.0264962
Vacaru, S.V., Alfaro, A.U., Hoffman, N., Wittich, W., Stern, M.,…& Sterkenburg, P.S. (2022). Applicability of a novel attunement instrument and its relationship to parental sensitivity in infants with and without visual impairments. Frontiers in Psychology.
10.3389/fpsyg.2022.872114
Vacaru, S.V., Ma, S., van Schie, H.T., & Hunnius, S. (2022). Eating in Synch: An investigation of parent-infant behavior coordination during feeding interactions. Infant Behavior & Development.
10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101669
Vacaru, S.V., Beijers, R., Browne, P.D., Cloin, M., van Bakel, H., van den Heuvel, M.I., de Weerth, C. (2021). The risk and protective factors of heightened prenatal anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 lockdown. Scientific Reports.
10.1038/s41598-021-99662-6
Alfaro, A.U., Vacaru, S.V., Wittich, W., & Sterkenburg, P.S. (2021). Identifying when children with visual impairment share attention. Infant Behavior & Development.
10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101585
Lievense, P., Vacaru S.V., Kruithof, Y., Bronzewijker, N., Doeve, M., & Sterkenburg, P.S. (2021). A serious game intervention to enhance social-emotional and behavioral development in children with visual impairments. A parallel RCT. Child: Care, Health & Development.
10.1016/j.dhjo.2020.101017
Vacaru, S.V., van Schaik, J.E., de Water, E., & Hunnius, S. (2020). Five-year-olds’ facial mimicry following social ostracism is modulated by attachment security. PlosOne.
10.1371/journal.pone.0240680
Addabbo, M., Vacaru, S.V., Meyer, M., & Hunnius, S. (2020). ‘Something in the way you move’: Infants are sensitive to emotions conveyed in action kinematics. Developmental Science.
10.1111/desc.12873
Vacaru, S.V., van Schaik, J.E., & Hunnius, S. (2019). The modulation of facial mimicry by attachment tendencies and their underlying affiliation motives in 3-year-olds: An EMG Study. PlosOne.
10.1371/journal.pone.0218676
Lievense, P., Vacaru, S.V., Liber, J., Bonnet, M., & Sterkenburg, P.S. (2019). ‘Stop bullying now!’ The effectiveness of a serious game for teachers in promoting autonomy-supporting strategies for disabled adults. An RCT. Disability & Health Journal.
10.1016/j.dhjo.2018.11.013
Vacaru, S.V., Sterkenburg, P.S., & Schuengel, C. (2018). Self‐concept in institutionalized children with disturbed attachment: The role of exploratory behaviors. Child: Care, Health & Development.
10.1111/cch.12521
Sterkenburg, P.S., & Vacaru, S.V. (2018). The effectiveness of a serious game to enhance empathy for care workers for people with disabilities: An RCT. Disability & Health Journal.
Under Review
Vacaru, S. V., Zhu, V. L., Giridas, G., Spiess, L., Mazrina, A., & Waters, T. E. A. (under review). Empirical evidence for the developmental origins of autonomic stress regulation: An attachment account
Vacaru, S.V., Puertas-Gonzales, J., Willemsen, Y., Houtman, T., Klein, P., Gordon, G., & de Weerth, C. (under review). Adolescents’ risk-taking behaviors, curiosity, and early attachment security
Zhu, V., Waters, T. E. A., Dugan, K. A., Gu, Y., Filetti, C., Magro, S. W., Nivison, M. D., Vacaru, V. S., McGue, M., Krueger, R. F., & Roisman, G. I. (under review). The origins of secure base script knowledge in older adult twins: Evidence for moderating genetic and substantial nonshared environmental effects
Dugan, K.A., Kunkel, J.J., Vacaru, S.V., Fraley, C., Waters, T.E.A., McGue, M., Krueger, R.F., & Roisman, G.I. (under review). Genetic and environmental contributions to the associations between attachment styles and mental and physical health
Frederiks, K., Vacaru, S.V., Lau, L., Barakova, E., Sterkenburg, P.S. (under review). Psychophysiological stress reduction through robot-guided mindfulness for people with (visual and) intellectual disabilities: An RCT
Zohra, Z., van Lenthe, F. J., Beeres, D. J., Boderie, N. W., Beijers, R., Vacaru, S.V., de Weerth, C., van den Heuvel, M. I., & Been, J. V. (under review). Inequities in employment conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic among expectant and new parents in the Netherlands: The role of gender and socioeconomic status
Buist-Brink, P., Vacaru, S.V., & Sterkenburg, P.S. (under review). Effectiveness of m-learning HiSense Taxi App for service providers for users with disabilities: A randomized controlled trial
Preregistrations & Manuscripts in Preparation
Vacaru, S.V., Zhu, V., Barriault, S., Waters, T.E.A. (in preparation). A developmental meta-analytic review of early attachment relationships supporting physiological stress regulation, OSF
Massera, A., Vacaru, S. V., Xing, J., Waters, T. E. A., Fox, N., & Filippi, C. (in preparation). Early neural susceptibility: Maternal anxiety and infant brain connectivity interact to shape the pathway from early temperamental risk to childhood psychopathology
Vacaru, S.V., Zhu, V., Dugan, K., Filetti, C., Gu, Y., Magro, S., Nivison, M., McGue, M., Krueger, R. F., Waters, T. E. A., & Roisman, G. I. (in preparation). Genetic and environmental contributions to the
association between secure base script knowledge and indicators of psychosocial adjustment and physical health in older adults
Vacaru, S.V., Mazrina, A., Waters, T.E.A., Schuengel, C., Sterkenburg, P.S. (in preparation). The effects of parents’ attachment representations on stress co-regulation of children with disabilities
Parenteau, A., Vacaru, S.V., de Weerth, C., Raschle, N. M., Lustermans, H., & Dimanova, P., Hostinar, C. (in preparation). In sync, we learn! A meta-analysis of biobehavioral synchrony’s effects on cognition. OSF
Furlanetto, L., Vacaru, S.V., van den Bosch, S. M., Meyer, M., Hunnius, S., & Poli, F. (in preparation). Do you enjoy learning? Investigating emotional responses to learning progress using facial
electromyography
Vacaru, S.V., Meesker, M., Mazrina, A., Yang, R., Hurks, P., Sterkenburg, P.S. (in preparation). Testing the psychometric validity of the Self-compassion self-report scale in a Dutch population with(out)
neurodevelopmental delays
