Research

The primary focus of my research is how environmental factors across multiple levels, from individual life experiences to within-family interactions to societal factors, impact the development of mental health problems in young people and adults. See also my Google Scholar profile.

Publication list

[Last updated: July 2025]

³⁴Bjørndal, L. D., Ebrahimi, O. V., & Bauermeister, S. (2025). The dynamic interplay between mental health difficulties and the family environment in early adolescence. JCPP Advances. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.70037

³³Bjørndal, L. D., Røysamb E., Nes, R. B., von Soest, T., & Ebrahimi, O. V. (2025). Financial factors and depression and anxiety: A symptom-specific approach in the general population. SSM – Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100508

³²Bjørndal, L.D., Chen, Y., (…), & Fang, F. (2025). Stress resilience and risk of psychiatric disorders after childhood bereavement. JAMA Network Open. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.19706

³¹Roettger, T., (…) Bjørndal, L. D., (…), & Hannigan, L. (2025). Transparency in epidemiological analyses of cohort data – A case study of the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child cohort study (MoBa). BMC Medical Research Methodology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-025-02601-6

³⁰Karstoft, K-I., Bjørndal, L.D., (…), & Hall, Brian. J. (2025). Associations of war exposures, post-migration living difficulties and social support with (complex) PTSD: A cohort study of Ukrainian refugees resettled in Denmark. Social Science & Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118080

²⁹Prydz, M. B., Bjørndal, L. D., Czajkowski, N. O., Røysamb, E., & Nes, R. B. (2025). Mechanisms of change in a digital Five Ways to Wellbeing Intervention: A network intervention analysis of a randomized controlled trial. Behaviour Research and Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2025.104781

²⁸Hegemann, L., Eilertsen, E. M., (…), Bjørndal, L. D., (…), & Hannigan, L. (2025). Direct and indirect genetic effects on early neurodevelopmental traits. (2025). JCPP, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14122

²⁷Bjørndal, L. D., Nes, R. B., Ayorech, Z., Vassend, O., & Røysamb, E. (2024). Multiple social factors are associated with wellbeing when accounting for shared genetic and environmental confounding. Quality of Life Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-024-03832-8

²⁶Arneberg, V. S., Sundsvold, V., Bjørndal, L. D., & Ystrom, E. Borderline personality disorder symptoms and stressful life events: An evaluation of gene-environment interplay. (2024). Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsgos.2024.100390

²⁵Lupattelli, A., Branquinho, M., Cardoso, C., Tauqeer, F., Bjørndal, L. D., & Fonseca, A. (2024). Psychometric properties of the Decisional Conflict Scale in a sample of perinatal women with depressive symptoms: A study in Portugal and Norway. Patient Education and Counseling, 126, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2024.108337

²⁴Moreno-Martes, D., Zhao, J., Li, H., Nyberg, F., Bjørndal, L. D., (…), & Morales, D. R. (2024). Impact of the early COVID-19 pandemic on adult mental health-related dispensed medications, hospitalizations and specialist outpatient visits in Norway and Sweden: Interrupted timeseries analysis. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bcp.16044

²³Nasrin, T., Tauqeer, F., Bjørndal, L. D., Kittel-Schneider, S., & Lupattelli, A. (2024). Partner support about antidepressant treatment and its association with depressive symptoms in pregnant women, mothers and women planning pregnancy. Archives of Women’s Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-024-01435-3

²²Bjørndal, L. D., Eilertsen, E. M., (…), & Ystrom, E. (2024). Disentangling direct and indirect genetic effects from partners and offspring on maternal depression using trio-GCTA. Nature Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00207-3

²¹Ayorech, Z., Torvik, F. A., Cheesman, R., Eilertsen, E. M., Valstad, M., Bjørndal L. D., Røysamb E., Havdahl, A., & Ystrom, E. (2024). The structure of psychiatric comorbidity without selection and assortative mating. Translational Psychiatry, 14(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-024-02768-4

²⁰Bjørndal, L. D., Ebrahimi, O. V., Røysamb, E., Karstoft, K-I., Czajkowski, N. O., & Nes, R. B. (2024). Stressful life events exhibit complex patterns of associations with depressive symptoms in two population-based samples using network analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 349, 569-576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.01.054

¹⁹Bjørndal, L. D. (2023). Miljøet er sentralt for den psykiske helsen. Tidsskrift for Norsk Psykologforening, 60(11), 686-688.

¹⁸Metz, K., Lewis, J., Mitchell, J., Chakraborty, S., McLeod, B. D., Bjørndal L., Mildon, R., & Shlonsky, A. (2023). Problem-solving interventions and depression among adolescents and young adults: A systematic review of the effectiveness of problem-solving interventions in preventing or treating depression. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0285949

¹⁷Bjørndal, L. D., Ebrahimi, O. V., Lan, X., Nes, R. B., & Røysamb, E. (2023). Mental health and environmental factors in adults: A population-based network analysis. American Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001208

¹⁶Bjørndal, L. D. (2023). The relationship between stressful life events and depression risk. Nature Reviews Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-023-00216-6

¹⁵Bjørndal, L. D., Nes, R. B., Czajkowski, N., & Røysamb E. (2023). The structure of wellbeing—a single underlying factor with genetic and environmental influences. Quality of Life Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-023-03437-7

¹⁴Fonseca, A., Branquinho, M., Monteiro, F., Araújo-Pedrosa, A., Bjørndal, L. D., & Lupattelli, A. (2023). Treatment options and their uptake among women with symptoms of perinatal depression: An exploratory study in Norway and Portugal. BJPsych Open, 9, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.56

¹³Ayorech, Z., Cheesman, R., Eilertsen, E. M., Bjørndal, L. D., Røysamb, E., McAdams, T. A., Havdahl, A., & Ystrom, E. (2023) Maternal depression and the polygenic p factor: A family perspective on direct and indirect effects. Journal of Affective Disorders, 332, 159-167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.03.043

¹²Bjørndal, L. D., Tauqeer, F., Heiervang, K. S., Clausen, H. K., Heitmann K., & Lupattelli, A. (2022). Perception of risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in offspring related to antidepressant, other psychotropics and mental illness exposure in pregnancy and breastfeeding. BMJ Open, 12(9), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061159

¹¹Bjørndal, L. D., Kendler, K. S., Reichborn-Kjennerud, T., & Ystrom, E. (2022) Stressful life events increase the risk of major depressive episodes: A population-based twin study. Psychological Medicine, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291722002227

¹⁰Finch, M., Featherston R., Chakraborty S., Bjørndal, L., (…), & Shlonsky, A. (2022). Interventions that Address Institutional Child Maltreatment: An Evidence and Gap Map. Research on Social Work Practice, 33(4), 437-459. https://doi.org/10.1177/10497315221115867

⁹Ruggeri, K., Panin, A., Vdovic, M., Većkalov, B., (…), Bjørndal, L. D., (…), & García-Garcon, E. (2022). The globalizability of temporal discounting. Nature Human Behaviour, 6, 1386-1397. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01392-w

⁸Saraiva, R., Bertoldo G., Bjørndal L. D., Bunghez, C., Lofthus, I., McGill, L., Richardson, S., & Stadel, M. (2022). Improving the evaluation of eyewitness evidence in legal decision-making: Testing an active versus passive teaching aid. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 36(3), 520-535. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3938

⁷Bjørndal, L. D., Brennen, T., & Magnussen, S. J. (2021). Norske dommeres kunnskap om påliteligheten av øyevitneforklaringer – 12 år senere. Lov & Rett, 9(60), 461-472. https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.1504-3061-2021-09-03

⁶Sumampouw, N., Bjørndal, L. D., Magnussen, S., Otgaar, H., & Brennen, T. (2021). Knowledge about eyewitness testimony: A survey of Indonesian police officers and psychologists. Psychology, Crime & Law, 28(8), 763-777. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2021.1962868

⁵Ruggeri, K., Većkalov, B., Bojanić, L., Andersen, T. L., Ashcroft- Jones, S., Ayscaxli, N., (…), Bjørndal L. D., (…), & Folke, T. (2021). The general fault in our fault lines. Nature Human Behaviour, 5, 1369-1380. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01092-x

⁴Finch, M., Albers, B., (…), Bjørndal, L., Shlonsky, A. (2021). Institutional responses to child maltreatment. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 17(1), 1-104. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1139

³Bjørndal, L. D., McGill, L., Magnussen, S., Richardson, S., Saraiva, R., Stadel, M., & Brennen, T. (2020). Norwegian judges’ knowledge of factors affecting eyewitness testimony: A 12-year follow-up. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 12(5), 665-682. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2020.1837028

²Ruggeri, K., Alí, S., Berge, M. L., Bertoldo, G., Bjørndal, L. D., Cortijos-Bernabeu, A., … Folke, T. (2020). Replicating patterns of Prospect Theory for decision under risk. Nature Human Behaviour, 4(6), 622-633. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0886-x

¹Albers, B., Fiennes, C., Shlonsky, A., Finch, M., Bjørndal, L., Hennessy, J., … Mildon, R. (2019). Evidence and gap map protocol: Institutional responses to child maltreatment. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 15(3), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1039

Manuscripts undergoing peer review

Bjørndal, L. D., Ebrahimi, O. V., & Bauermeister, S. (2024). The dynamic interplay between mental health difficulties and the family environment in early adolescence. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/9j4hp

Bjørndal, L. D., Corfield, E. C., (…), Ask, H., & Havdahl, A. (2025). Avoidant restrictive food intake phenotypes: Prevalence, developmental characteristics, and genetic architecture. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/92dba_v1

Bjørndal, L. D., Hegemann, L., (…), & Watson, H. (2025). Investigating relationships between genetic risk, childhood maltreatment and eating disorders. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/fy2xn_v1

Bjørndal, L. D., Wootton, R. E., (…), Ask, H., & Havdahl, A. (2024). Unravelling symptom-specific polygenic effects on maternal mental health during the perinatal period and postpartum. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/zxdfg

Bjørndal, L. D., Røysamb E., Nes, R. B., von Soest, T., & Ebrahimi, O. V. (2024). Financial factors and depression and anxiety: A symptom-specific approach in the general population. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/cz65n

Ahmadzadeh, Y. I., Eilertsen, E. M., (…), Bjørndal, L. D., (…), & McAdams, T. A. (2024). Are mothers’ prenatal emotional symptoms influenced by the foetal genome? Exploring the possibility of offspring to parent effects during pregnancy. Preprint: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4989215

Karl, V., Bjørndal, L. D., (…), & Tamnes, C. K. (2024). Symptom-specific links between internalizing problems and functional connectivity in adolescents: A network analysis. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/cv9q4

Tamnes, C., (…), Bjørndal, L. D., (…), & von Soest, T. (2024). The nature of the relation between mental illbeing and wellbeing. Preprint: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/9jk2x