About
Dr Dennis Golm is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Southampton.
His main research interests lie within the field of developmental psychopathology. He is interested in the mechanisms through which early risk factors, especially early adverse experiences such as institutional deprivation and childhood maltreatment in general, contribute to the emergence of mental health problems later in life. He is especially interested in biological markers of early adversity.
He teaches lectures in developmental and clinical psychology, and in developmental psychopathology. He leads the optional third year undergraduate module “Childhood maltreatment and mental health”.
He is the School and Young People Organisation Liaison for the School of Psychology. Part of this role involves the arrangement of partnerships with schools for research and outreach. He further co-leads the outreach project NeuroKids. The project educates young children about the brain through educational videos and school workshops.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Early adverse experiences (i.e. abuse, neglect, institutional deprivation, bereavement)
- Neurodevelopmental problems (i.e. ADHD, autism)
- Emotional processing (threat processing, empathy, emotional regulation)
- Emotional problems (i.e. depression, anxiety)
- Nutritional psychiatry
Current research
Early adverse experiences, such as childhood maltreatment or institutional deprivation, are associated with an increased risk of later life mental health problems.
My research tries to understand the mechanisms through which these early life experiences lead to mental health problems later in life and the interplay with neurodevelopmental problems (i.e., ADHD, autism). I am particularly interested in biological markers of adversity (i.e., changes in the brain) and effects on emotional processing domains (i.e., threat processing, empathy, emotion regulation).
I am also interested in factors that promote resilience, especially the role of relationships (i.e., social support) and institutional support (i.e., school belonging).
I am further interested in the development of neuropsychological tasks of emotional processing (i.e., empathy) and social cognition.
For my research, I utilise longitudinal data from at-risk populations and brain imaging methods.
Publications
Supervision
Current PhD Students
Teaching
He teaches lectures in developmental and clinical psychology, and in developmental psychopathology. The topics include early adversity, emotional development and pedophilia. He leads the optional third year undergraduate module “Childhood maltreatment and mental health” which discusses the mechanisms via which childhood maltreatment increases the risk for mental health problems.
Biography
Dr Golm studied Psychology at the University of Göttingen, Germany and completed his PhD in the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the University of Göttingen under the supervision of Professor Birgit Kröner-Herwig. He then joined the English and Romanian Adoptees Study team as a post-doc and worked with Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke at the University of Southampton and later at King’s College London. He re-joined the University of Southampton as a Lecturer in Psychology in 2018.
Dr Golm holds honorary/ affiliate positions at the Department of Child and adolescent Psychiatry at King’s College London and Boston Children’s Hospital.