• Mary Page Leggett-James: Perceived best friends and popular peers as sources of influence during early adolescence. Thesis to be defended: Florida Atlantic University, 2025                .
  • Lian van Vemde. Creating inclusive societies: Fostering belonging and positive intergroup relations in culturally diverse classrooms. Thesis to be defended: Utrecht, 2025.
  • Sari Hogye: Child problem behavior in the early family environment: Unraveling the role of maternal and paternal harsh parenting. Thesis defended: Rotterdam, 2024.
  • Maria Wiertsema: Transmission of child and adolescent peer experiences across social contexts and generations. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2024.
  • Fleur van Gils: Powerless or powerful? (How) can teachers impact bullying at school? Thesis defended: Leuven, Belgium, 2022.
  • Jacintha Tieskens. The risk of childhood risk-taking Thesis defended: VU Amsterdam, 2022.
  • Chloé Tolmatcheff: Opening the black box of anti-bullying programs. Thesis defended: UC Louvain, Belgium, 2021.
  • Jolien Geerlings: Teaching in culturally diverse classrooms: the importance of dyadic relations between teachers and children. Thesis defended: Utrecht, 2021.
  • Tomas Diviak: Criminal networks: actors, mechanisms, and structures. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2020.
  • Robert Krause: Multiple imputation for missing network data. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2019.
  • Maurits Masselink: Despicable me: Self-esteem and depressive symptoms among adolescents and young adults. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2019.
  • Jin He: The power of being prosocial development and influence of children’s prosocial behavior in the peer context of elementary school. Thesis defended: VU Amsterdam, 2019.
  • Dorinde Jansma: This is wrong, right? The role of moral components in anti- and prosocial behaviour in primary education. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2018. 
  • Loes Pouwels: The group process of bullying: Developmental, methodological, and social-cognitive perspectives. Thesis defended: Nijmegen, 2018 (cum laude). 
  • Tatang Muttaqin: The education divide in Indonesia: Four essays on determinants of unequal access to and quality of education. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2017. 
  • Sara Geven: Student problem behavior in school: the role of peers. Thesis defended: Utrecht, 2016.
  • Tirza van Noorden: Mechanisms of bullying and victimization: Target specific empathy and human characteristics attribution. Thesis defended: Nijmegen, 2016. 
  • Dorottya Kisfalusi: Interethnic relations among Roma and non-Roma students in Hungary. Thesis defended: Budapest, Hungary, 2016. 
  • Judit Pál: Negative ties and bullying. Thesis defended: Budapest, Hungary, 2016 (cum laude). 
  • Evelien Hoeben: Hanging around and messing about. Thesis defended: Amsterdam (VU), 2016 (cum laude / winner of the Willem Nagel Prize of the Dutch Society of Criminology / winner of the Hershel D. Thornburg Dissertation Award). 
  • Ruben de Cuyper: Personal networks of prisoners. Thesis defended: Amsterdam (VU), 2015. 
  • Daphne van de Bongardt: Developing adolescent sexuality in context: Relations with parents and peers. Thesis to be defended: Utrecht, 2015. 
  • Jellie Sierksma: Bounded helping: How morality and intergroup relations shape children’s reasoning about helping. Thesis to be defended: Utrecht, 2015. 
  • Saskia Mulder: Children with internalizing problems and peer problems. Risk factors, treatment effectiveness, moderation, and mediation. Thesis defended: Utrecht, 2014. 
  • Vincent Busch: The Utrecht Healthy School: Connecting adolescent health behavior, academic achievement and Health Promoting Schools. Thesis defended: Utrecht, 2014. 
  • Chip Huisman: The smoking chain. Friendship networks, education, social background and adolescent smoking behavior in the Netherlands. Thesis defended: Amsterdam (UvA), 2013. 
  • Tessa Lansu: Implicit processes in peer relations. Thesis defended: Nijmegen, 2012 (cum laude). 
  • Charlotte Verboom: Depression and role functioning in adolescence and adulthood. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2012. 
  • Nicoletta Balbo: Family, friends, and fertility. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2012 (winner of ECSR Thesis Prize 2013). 
  • Peter Kolarcik: Self-reported health and health risky behaviour of Roma adolescents in Slovakia: A comparison with non-Roma. Thesis defended: Groningen, 2012. 
  • Marieke van de Rakt: Two generations of crime: The intergenerational transmission of criminal convictions over the life course. Thesis defended: Nijmegen, 2011. 
  • Miranda Witvliet: Children’s peer relations and the development of psychopathology: A group-based approach. Thesis defended: Amsterdam (VU), 2009. 
  • Hanneke Palmen: Friendship and aggression in elementary school. Thesis defended: Utrecht, 2009. 
  • Gijs Weijters: Youth delinquency in Dutch cities and schools: A multi-level approach. Thesis defended: Nijmegen, 2008. 
  • Berna Güroglu: Development of dyadic peer relationships: Friendships and antipathies. Thesis defended: Nijmegen, 2008 (cum laude).