My previous position as associate professor was mainly focused on course leadership for, and teaching on, two different courses in developmental psychology, for psychology program students. However, I have also taught on several other courses, for instance regarding executive functions and ADHD.

Together with Pehr Granqvist, I started a course in attachment (Advanced Attachment factory and Journal Club) for doctoral students and researchers at the department.

My research at the department has two different tracks. However, I have a particular interest in attachment theory, which partly unites the research.

Research on the use of attachment theory

My first research track is about how attachment theory, research and assessments are used in social work, especially in child protection and child custody investigations. In 2021, I coordinated an international consensus statement on these matters – "attachment goes to court" – in which we became a total of 70 researchers from more than 20 countries and all continents (Forslund et al., 2021a). The aim was, given widespread concerns about misuse of attachment theory, to provide updated knowledge concerning relevant theory and research, to counter misunderstandings, to give recommendations regarding the theory’s application, and to note important questions for future research.

I have subsequently elaborated on these issues in a special issue (Forslund et al., 2021b). Since the consensus statement mainly had a psychological focus, I expanded the reasoning by discussing the use of attachment theory in light of legal 'admissibility criteria for evidence in court'. The theme was custody investigations, but the conclusions are largely applicable to child protection investigations as well.

I then conducted an empirical study of how the theory is perceived and used by social workers who conduct child care investigations (Hammarlund et al., 2022). This study is one of very few systematic studies on the subject. The study indicated that attachment theory is widely used, and that there are widespread misunderstandings about the theory and how it can be applied. However, the study was descriptive and further research is needed. I am now working, together with PhD student Freja Isohanni (and Pehr Granqvist and Azadé Azad) on an interview study, to extend this research.

I am also working on various applications to extend this line of research. I also work with knowledge dissemination. This is important because one reason for misunderstandings about attachment, and difficulties in applying the theory, is that we researchers have communicated insufficiently with those who are using the theory. To this end, I have published a book, together with a colleague at Cambridge (Robbie Duschinsky). I have also written articles, in Swedish, in magazines aimed at practitioners, been interviewed on Radio and TV, and I often lecture to practitioners. I am also involved in various international collaborations, for further research and knowledge dissemination. Finally, I am developing a course in attachment theory, together with ITB, which will be offered to practitioners.

Research on parents with cognitive difficulties and their children

My second track concerns parenting behavior among parents with cognitive difficulties, their children's development and influential factors. This work has previously focused on parents with mild intellectual disability (ID), but now also includes parents with ADHD and parents with Autism (ASD). Together with Professor Pehr Granqvist, I have two grants (VR, FORTE) for a project that examines attachment representations in mothers with ID or ADHD, together with various potentially influential factors. Doctoral student Mårten Hammarlund is working on this project. The data has been collected and we are now working on analysis and reporting of results.

The project is based on a previous research project, about mothers with mild ID, which I carried out together with Pehr Granqvist (PI). This project has thus far resulted in four articles, concerning (1) the mothers' responsiveness, (2) the mothers' ability to identify emotional facial expressions, and (3) attachment representations and (4) behavior problems in their children. The mothers' own experiences of abuse, neglect and trauma emerged as a central risk factor, and such experiences were unfortunately very common.

Mårten Hammarlund, Pehr Granqvist and I have therefore also made a systematic review of how common it is with such experiences among these parents, as well as whether such experiences are associated with parenting and child development.

I also have research funding, together with a number of researchers from other universities, for a study evaluating a home-based parenting support program (Parenting young children; PYC) for parents with cognitive difficulties.

I have also published an interview study on how parents with ID experienced the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on their parenting.

My research on parents with cognitive difficulties has been facilitated by help from SUF resource center (Region Uppsala). SUF has, since the first project, been very supportive, for instance through facilitating recruitment (through its wide network of practitioners who meet the target group). Since 2021, I also have a position as a researcher at SUF.