Biography
Dr Yara Toenders is a Healthy Start Fellow at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. She works in the Clinical Psychology team and the SYNC lab. Her research focusses on mental wellbeing of adolescents, from the biological to the societal level. Biological factors she studies are brain development and sleep. Societal factors include the smartphone ban and performance pressure. At the same time, she emphasises the importance of positive influences, such as having inspiring role models.
Yara previously obtained her PhD at the University of Melbourne, where she studied depression onset in young people, and the neural correlates associated with depression.
Research interests: Mental health, Brain development, Adolescence, Sleep, Screentime
Onderzoeksinteresses: Mentaal welzijn, Hersenontwikkeling, Adolescentie, Slaap, Schermtijd
Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Researcher | Clinical Psychology
- toenders@essb.eur.nl
More information
Work
- Matthijs Fakkel, Lysanne W. Te Brinke, Yara J. Toenders, Kayla H. Green, Sophie W. Sweijen, Suzanne van de Groep & Eveline A. Crone (2025) - Young people's poverty attributions: The role of demographic, socioeconomic, and psychosocial factors in the Dutch context - Personality and Individual Differences, 247 - doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2025.113441 - [link]
- Xueyi Shen, Yara J Toenders, , , Laura K M Han, Antoine Weihs, Nina Alexander, Till F M Andlauer, Katharina Brosch, Andreas J Forstner, Dominik Grotegerd, Tim Hahn, Marco Hermesdorf, Norbert Hosten, Hamidreza Jamalabadi, Susanne Meinert, Yuri Milaneschi, Philipp G Sämann, Frederike Stein, Aleks Stolicyn, Lea Teutenberg, Gladi Thng, Mark J Adams, Florian Thomas-Odenthal, Paula Usemann, Uwe Völker, Katharina Wittfeld, Marisol Herrera-Rivero, Yunxuan Jiang, Chao Tian, Nynke A Groenewold, Sheri-Michelle Koopowitz, Lachlan T Strike, Udo Dannlowski, Andreas Jansen, Tilo Kircher, Igor Nenadić, Kang Sim, Benjamin Straube, Henry Völzke, Dan J Stein, Sarah E Medland, Klaus Berger, Hans J Grabe, Axel Krug, Katie L McMahon, Greig de Zubicaray, Elena Pozzi, Dick J Veltman, Sophia I Thomopoulos, Neda Jahanshad, Paul M Thompson, Lianne Schmaal, Andrew M McIntosh & Heather C. Whalley (2025) - Association between polygenic risk for Major Depression and brain structure in a mega-analysis of 50,975 participants across 11 studies - Molecular Psychiatry - doi: 10.1038/s41380-025-03136-4 - [link]
- Josh Nguyen, Dominic B. Dwyer, Yara J. Toenders, Scott D. Tagliaferri, Laura S. van Velzen, Scott R. Clark, Isabelle Scott, Simon Hartmann, Johanna T.W. Wigman, Ashleigh Lin, Andrew D. Thompson, Cassandra M.J. Wannan, Caroline X. Gao, Stephen J. Wood, G. Paul Amminger, Alison R. Yung, Nikolaos Koutsouleris, Jessica A. Hartmann, Hok Pan Yuen, Christopher G. Davey, Angelica Ronald, Patrick D. McGorry, Christel Middeldorp, Barnaby Nelson & Lianne Schmaal (2025) - Predicting the First Onset of Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Adolescents Using Multimodal Risk Factors: A 4-Year Longitudinal Study - Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2025.07.006 - [link]
- Laura K M Han, Yara J Toenders, Xueyi Shen, Yuri Milaneschi, Heather C Whalley, Philipp G Sämann, Til Andlauer, Jochen Bauer, Klaus Berger, Tiana Borgers, James H Cole, Udo Dannlowski, Kira Flinkenflügel, Hans J Grabe, Oliver Gruber, Tim Hahn, Paul J Hamilton, Sean N Hatton, Marco Hermesdorf, Ian Hickie, Jan Homann, Tilo J Kircher, Bernd Krämer, Anna Kraus, Axel Krug, Christina M Lill, Sarah E Medland, Susanne Meinert, Alana Panzenhagen, Brenda W J H Penninx, Nic J A van der Wee, Marie-José van Tol, Uwe Völker, Henry Völzke, Antoine Weihs, Katharina Wittfeld, Sophia I Thomopoulos, Neda Jahanshad, Paul M Thompson, Elena Pozzi & Lianne Schmaal (2025) - Lifestyle, Early-life, and Genetic Health Risk Factors Underlying the Brain Age Gap: A Mega-Analysis Across 3,934 Individuals from the ENIGMA MDD Consortium - bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology - doi: 10.1101/2025.05.09.653064
- Janna Cousijn, Yara J Toenders, Anne Marije Kaag, Francesca Filbey & Emese Kroon (2025) - The role of sex in the association between cannabis use disorder and resting-state functional connectivity - Neuropsychopharmacology, 50 (6), 991-999 - doi: 10.1038/s41386-025-02078-3 - [link]
- Laura S van Velzen, Lejla Colic, Zuriel Ceja, , Maria R Dauvermann, Luca M Villa, Hannah S Savage, Yara J Toenders, Niousha Dehestani, Alyssa H Zhu, Adrian I Campos, Lauren E Salminen, Ingrid Agartz, Nina Alexander, Rosa Ayesa-Arriola, Elizabeth D Ballard, Nerisa Banaj, Carlotta Barkhau, Zeynep Başgöze, Jochen Bauer, Francesco Benedetti, Klaus Berger, Bianca Besteher, Katharina Brosch, Manuel Canal-Rivero, Simon Cervenka, Romain Colle, Colm G Connolly, Emmanuelle Corruble, Philippe Courtet, Baptiste Couvy-Duchesne, Benedicto Crespo-Facorro, Kathryn R Cullen, Udo Dannlowski, Jeremy Deverdun, Ana M Diaz-Zuluaga, Lorielle M F Dietze, Jennifer W Evans, Negar Fani, Kira Flinkenflügel, Naomi P Friedman, Ian H Gotlib, Nynke A Groenewold, Dominik Grotegerd, Tomas Hajek, Alexander S Hatoum, Marco Hermesdorf, Ian B Hickie, Yoshiyuki Hirano, Tiffany C Ho & Meng Li (2024) - Transdiagnostic alterations in white matter microstructure associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviours in the ENIGMA Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviours consortium - doi: 10.1101/2024.11.07.24316876
- Yara J. Toenders, Marleen H.M. de Moor, Renske van der Cruijsen, Kayla Green, Michelle Achterberg & Eveline A. Crone (2024) - Within-person biological mechanisms of mood variability in childhood and adolescence - Human Brain Mapping, 45 (11) - doi: 10.1002/hbm.26766 - [link]
- Yara J Toenders, Hannah Dorsman, Renske van der Cruijsen & Eveline A Crone (2024) - Developing body estimation in adolescence is associated with neural regions that support self-concept - Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 19 (1) - doi: 10.1093/scan/nsae042 - [link]
- Yara J Toenders, Kayla H Green, Lysanne W Te Brinke, Renske van der Cruijsen, Suzanne van de Groep & Eveline A Crone (2024) - From developmental neuroscience to policy: A novel framework based on participatory research - Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 67 - doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101398 - [link]
- Yara J. Toenders, Renske van der Cruijsen, Jana Runze, Suzanne van de Groep, Lara Wierenga & Eveline A. Crone (2024) - Mood variability during adolescent development and its relation to sleep and brain development - Scientific Reports, 14 (1) - doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-59227-9 - [link]
- E Kroon, Y J Toenders, L N Kuhns, J Cousijn & F Filbey (2024) - Resting state functional connectivity in dependent cannabis users: The moderating role of cannabis attitudes - Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 256, 111090 - doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2024.111090 - [link]
- L van Drunen, Y J Toenders, L M Wierenga & E A Crone (2023) - Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on structural brain development in early adolescence - Scientific Reports, 13 (1), 1-14 - doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-32754-7 - [link]
- , Laura S van Velzen, Maria R Dauvermann, Lejla Colic, Luca M Villa, Hannah S Savage, Yara J Toenders, Alyssa H Zhu, Joanna K Bright, Adrián I Campos, Lauren E Salminen, Sonia Ambrogi, Rosa Ayesa-Arriola, Nerisa Banaj, Zeynep Başgöze, Jochen Bauer, Karina Blair, Robert James Blair, Katharina Brosch, Yuqi Cheng, Romain Colle, Colm G Connolly, Emmanuelle Corruble, Baptiste Couvy-Duchesne, Benedicto Crespo-Facorro, Kathryn R Cullen, Udo Dannlowski, Christopher G Davey, Katharina Dohm, Janice M Fullerton, Ali Saffet Gonul, Ian H Gotlib, Dominik Grotegerd, Tim Hahn, Ben J Harrison, Mengxin He, Ian B Hickie, Tiffany C Ho, Frank Iorfino, Andreas Jansen, Fabrice Jollant, Tilo Kircher, Bonnie Klimes-Dougan, Melissa Klug, Elisabeth J Leehr, Elizabeth T C Lippard, Katie A McLaughlin, Susanne Meinert, Adam Bryant Miller, Philip B Mitchell & Benson Mwangi (2022) - Structural brain alterations associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors in young people: Results from 21 international studies from the ENIGMA suicidal thoughts and behaviours consortium - Molecular Psychiatry, 27 (11), 4550-4560 - doi: 10.1038/s41380-022-01734-0 - [link]
- Yara J. Toenders, Lianne Schmaal, Laura Nawijn, Laura K.M. Han, Julia Binnewies, Nic J.A. van der Wee, Marie Jose van Tol, Dick J. Veltman, Yuri Milaneschi, Femke Lamers & Brenda W.J.H. Penninx (2022) - The association between clinical and biological characteristics of depression and structural brain alterations - Journal of Affective Disorders, 312, 268-274 - doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.06.056 - [link]
- Lea Waller, Susanne Erk, Elena Pozzi, Yara J Toenders, Courtney C Haswell, Marc Büttner, Paul M Thompson, Lianne Schmaal, Rajendra A Morey, Henrik Walter & Ilya M Veer (2022) - ENIGMA HALFpipe: Interactive, reproducible, and efficient analysis for resting-state and task-based fMRI data - Human Brain Mapping, 43 (9), 2727-2742 - doi: 10.1002/hbm.25829 - [link]
- Laura S van Velzen, Yara J Toenders, Akhil Kottaram, Belinsha Youzchalveen, Vita Pilkington, Sue M Cotton, Abi Brooker, Ben McKechnie, Simon Rice & Lianne Schmaal (2022) - Risk factors for suicide attempt during outpatient care in adolescents with severe and complex depression - Crisis, 44 (3), 232-239 - doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000860 - [link]
- Shaunagh O'Sullivan, Lianne Schmaal, Simon D'Alfonso, Yara Jo Toenders, Lee Valentine, Carla McEnery, Sarah Bendall, Barnaby Nelson, John F Gleeson & Mario Alvarez-Jimenez (2022) - Characterizing use of a multicomponent digital intervention to predict treatment outcomes in first-episode psychosis: Cluster analysis - JMIR Mental Health, 9 (4) - doi: 10.2196/29211 - [link]
- Laura S van Velzen, Yara J Toenders, Aina Avila-Parcet, Richard Dinga, Jill A Rabinowitz, Adrián I Campos, Neda Jahanshad, Miguel E RenterÃa & Lianne Schmaal (2022) - Classification of suicidal thoughts and behaviour in children: Results from penalised logistic regression analyses in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study - British Journal of Psychiatry, 220 (4), 210-218 - doi: 10.1192/bjp.2022.7 - [link]
- Yara J Toenders, Akhil Kottaram, Richard Dinga, Christopher G Davey, , Tobias Banaschewski, Arun L W Bokde, Erin Burke Quinlan, Sylvane Desrivières, Herta Flor, Antoine Grigis, Hugh Garavan, Penny Gowland, Andreas Heinz, Rüdiger Brühl, Jean-Luc Martinot, Marie-Laure Paillère Martinot, Frauke Nees, Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos, Herve Lemaitre, Tomáš Paus, Luise Poustka, Sarah Hohmann, Juliane H Fröhner, Michael N Smolka, Henrik Walter, Robert Whelan, Argyris Stringaris, Betteke van Noort, Jani Penttilä, Yvonne Grimmer, Corinna Insensee, Andreas Becker, Gunter Schumann & Lianne Schmaal (2022) - Predicting depression onset in young people based on clinical, cognitive, environmental, and neurobiological Data - Biological Psychiatry-Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 7 (4), 376-384 - doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2021.03.005 - [link]
