Paula Oliveira é Professora Auxiliar na Escola de Psicologia da Universidade do Minho, onde integra o Centro de Investigação em Psicologia (CIPsi). A sua investigação incide sobre o desenvolvimento da criança, a vinculação e a parentalidade em contextos de vulnerabilidade psicossocial, em particular junto de crianças e famílias envolvidas com o sistema de promoção e proteção, bem como sobre a validação e implementação de programas de intervenção dirigidos a estas famílias.
Concluiu o Mestrado Integrado em Psicologia na Universidade do Minho em 2009, e o Doutoramento em Psicologia na University College London (UCL) em 2016. Foi investigadora na UCL e no Anna Freud Centre em Londres (2017–2024) e no Laboratório Colaborativo ProChild (2024–2026). É autora de artigos em revistas internacionais de referência e capítulos de livros nas áreas da psicologia clínica e do desenvolvimento e tem coordenado e participado em projetos de investigação financiados por agências como a Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), o National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), a What Works Centre for Children & Families e a Fundação La Caixa.
Orienta atualmente estudantes de mestrado e de doutoramento na Universidade do Minho e tem ampla experiência de docência ao nível da licenciatura e do mestrado, em Portugal e no Reino Unido. A sua prática clínica tem-se centrado nas mesmas áreas, com crianças, famílias e profissionais do sistema de proteção, previamente no Anna Freud Centre e Tavistock Clinic e atualmente na APsi. Representa a Escola de Psicologia no Conselho Científico e Editorial da UMinho Editora. É membro efetivo da Ordem dos Psicólogos Portugueses, Fellow da Higher Education Academy (Reino Unido) e graduate member da British Psychological Society.
desenvolvimento da criança em contextos de risco
vinculação perturbações de vinculação e trauma interpessoal
parentalidade em contextos de risco
observação do comportamento interativo pais-criança
intervenções com crianças e famílias em risco
Publicações selecionadas
Oliveira, P. S. & Mesquita, A. (2026). Biological bases of attachment. In A. Perez, E. Panagiotopoulou & R. Roberts (Eds.) Perspectives on Early Parenthood and Infancy: A Psychoanalytic, Neuroscientific, Developmental and Cultural Dialogue. Routledge: UK. DOI
Oliveira, P. S. (2026). When practitioners become research partners: Lessons from two cross-national child protection studies. Child Protection and Practice, 8, 100278. DOI
McGuire, R., Meiser-Stedman, R., Smith, P., Schmidt, D., Bjornstad, G., Bosworth, R., ... & Hiller, R. M. (2026). A longitudinal mixed-methods study of barriers and facilitators to the implementation of routine PTSD screening for care-experienced young people. European journal of psychotraumatology, 17(1), 2601397. DOI
Veríssimo, M., Guedes, M., Fernandes, M., Fernandes, C., Santos, C., Diniz, E., ... & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. (2025). Promoting socioemotional development in early childhood: implementation and evaluation of the VIPP-SD parenting intervention in Portugal. BMC psychology, 13(1), 1190. DOI
Oliveira, P. S., Hillman, S., Eagle-Hull, R., Rawlinson, M., Sleed, M., & Midgley, N. (2025). Feasibility study of the Southwark Fathers Group. Foundations–What Works Centre for children & families. https://foundations.org.uk/our-work/publications/southwark-fathers-group/ DOI
Oliveira, P. S., Vaillancourt, K., Giné Rabadán, A., Akay, N., Fearon, P., & Barlow, J. (2025). Psychosocial Interventions for Edge of Care Families in the Early Years: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15248380251366259. DOI
Oliveira, P. S. (2024). The impact of out-of-home care on brain development: A brief review of the neuroscientific evidence informing our understanding of children’s attachment outcomes. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 18, 1332898. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1332898 DOI
McGuire, R., Meiser-Stedman, R., Smith, P., Schmidt, D., Bjornstad, G., Bosworth, R., Clarke, T., Coombes, J., Geijer-Simpson, E., Hudson, K., Oliveira, P., … & Hiller, R. (2024). Access to best-evidenced mental health support for care-experienced young people: Learnings from the implementation of cognitive therapy for PTSD. British Journal of Clinical Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12471 DOI
Davis, R., Devaney, J., Halligan, S., Meiser-Stedman, R., Oliveira, P., … & Hiller, R. (2024). The feasibility and acceptability of delivering a group trauma-focused intervention to children in care. British Journal of Clinical Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12494 DOI
Oliveira, P. S. (2023). Attachment in children looked after: neuroscientific evidence, in T. Philpot (Ed.) Children in Care: Needs, Challenges and Evidence. Step Beach Press: UK. DOI
Oliveira, P. S., Barge, L., Stevens, E., Byford, S., Shearer, J., Spies, R., Comyn, J., Langley, K., Ramchandani, P., Wright, B., Woolgar, M., Kennedy, E., Scott, S., Barlow, J., Glaser, D., Senior, R., Fonagy, P., & Fearon, P. (2022). Children in foster care with reactive attachment disorder: Feasibility randomised controlled trial of a modified video-feedback parenting intervention. BJPsych Open. 18;8(4):e134. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2022.538 DOI
Oliveira, P. S., Stevens, E., Barge, L., Comyn, J., Langley, K., Ramchandani, P., ... Fonagy, P., & Fearon, P. (2022). A modified videofeedback intervention for carers of foster children aged 6 years and under with reactive attachment disorder: a feasibility study and pilot RCT. Health Technology Assessment, 26(35). https://doi.org/10.3310/SLIZ1119 DOI
Outras publicações
Oliveira, P. S. & Mesquita, A. (2026). Biological bases of attachment. In A. Perez, E. Panagiotopoulou & R. Roberts (Eds.) Perspectives on Early Parenthood and Infancy: A Psychoanalytic, Neuroscientific, Developmental and Cultural Dialogue. Routledge: UK. DOI
Oliveira, P. S. (2026). When practitioners become research partners: Lessons from two cross-national child protection studies. Child Protection and Practice, 8, 100278. DOI
McGuire, R., Meiser-Stedman, R., Smith, P., Schmidt, D., Bjornstad, G., Bosworth, R., ... & Hiller, R. M. (2026). A longitudinal mixed-methods study of barriers and facilitators to the implementation of routine PTSD screening for care-experienced young people. European journal of psychotraumatology, 17(1), 2601397. DOI
Veríssimo, M., Guedes, M., Fernandes, M., Fernandes, C., Santos, C., Diniz, E., ... & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. (2025). Promoting socioemotional development in early childhood: implementation and evaluation of the VIPP-SD parenting intervention in Portugal. BMC psychology, 13(1), 1190. DOI
Oliveira, P. S., Hillman, S., Eagle-Hull, R., Rawlinson, M., Sleed, M., & Midgley, N. (2025). Feasibility study of the Southwark Fathers Group. Foundations–What Works Centre for children & families. https://foundations.org.uk/our-work/publications/southwark-fathers-group/ DOI
Oliveira, P. S., Vaillancourt, K., Giné Rabadán, A., Akay, N., Fearon, P., & Barlow, J. (2025). Psychosocial Interventions for Edge of Care Families in the Early Years: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15248380251366259. DOI
Oliveira, P. S. (2024). The impact of out-of-home care on brain development: A brief review of the neuroscientific evidence informing our understanding of children’s attachment outcomes. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 18, 1332898. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1332898 DOI
McGuire, R., Meiser-Stedman, R., Smith, P., Schmidt, D., Bjornstad, G., Bosworth, R., Clarke, T., Coombes, J., Geijer-Simpson, E., Hudson, K., Oliveira, P., … & Hiller, R. (2024). Access to best-evidenced mental health support for care-experienced young people: Learnings from the implementation of cognitive therapy for PTSD. British Journal of Clinical Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12471 DOI
Davis, R., Devaney, J., Halligan, S., Meiser-Stedman, R., Oliveira, P., … & Hiller, R. (2024). The feasibility and acceptability of delivering a group trauma-focused intervention to children in care. British Journal of Clinical Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12494 DOI
Oliveira, P. S. (2023). Attachment in children looked after: neuroscientific evidence, in T. Philpot (Ed.) Children in Care: Needs, Challenges and Evidence. Step Beach Press: UK. DOI
Oliveira, P. S., Barge, L., Stevens, E., Byford, S., Shearer, J., Spies, R., Comyn, J., Langley, K., Ramchandani, P., Wright, B., Woolgar, M., Kennedy, E., Scott, S., Barlow, J., Glaser, D., Senior, R., Fonagy, P., & Fearon, P. (2022). Children in foster care with reactive attachment disorder: Feasibility randomised controlled trial of a modified video-feedback parenting intervention. BJPsych Open. 18;8(4):e134. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2022.538 DOI
Oliveira, P. S., Stevens, E., Barge, L., Comyn, J., Langley, K., Ramchandani, P., ... Fonagy, P., & Fearon, P. (2022). A modified videofeedback intervention for carers of foster children aged 6 years and under with reactive attachment disorder: a feasibility study and pilot RCT. Health Technology Assessment, 26(35). https://doi.org/10.3310/SLIZ1119 DOI
Oliveira, P. S., Fearon, P., Belsky, J. Mesquita, A, Sampaio, A., Pinal, D., Soares, I. (2022). Neural correlates of face familiarity in institutionalised children and links to attachment disordered behaviour. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13728 DOI
Oliveira, P. S. (2021). Intervenções terapêuticas com famílias de acolhimento (EN: Therapeutic interventions with foster families), in Magalhães & Baptista (Eds.), Acolhimento familiar de crianças e jovens em perigo: Um manual para profissionais. Lisbon: Pactor (in Portuguese). DOI
Oliveira, P. S., & Fearon, P. (2019). Biological Bases of Attachment. Adoption and fostering, 43(3), 274–293. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308575919867770 DOI
Corval, R., Belsky, J., Baptista, J., Oliveira, P., Mesquita, A., & Soares, I. (2017). Inhibited attachment disordered behavior in institutionalized preschool children: Links with early and current relational experiences. Attachment & Human Development, 19(6), 598-612, https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2017.1342172 DOI
Oliveira, P. S., Fearon, P., Belsky, J., Fachada, I. & Soares, I. (2015). Quality of institutional care and early childhood development. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 39 (2), 161–170. https://doi.org/10.1177/016502541455230 DOI
Mesquita, A. R., Belsky, J., Crego, A., Fachada, I., Oliveira, P., Sampaio, A., Soares, I. (2015). Neural correlates of face familiarity in institutionally reared children with distinctive, atypical social behavior. Child Development, 86 (4), 1262-1271. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12371 DOI
Baptista, J., Belsky, J., Marques, S., Silva, J. R., Oliveira, P. S., Mesquita, A., Martins, C. (2014). The interactive effect of maltreatment in the family and unstable institutional caregiving in predicting behavior problems in toddlers. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38, 2072–2079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.10.015 DOI
Soares, I., Belsky, J., Oliveira, P. S., Silva, J. R., Marques, S. Baptista, J., & Martins, C. (2014). Does early family risk and current quality of care predict indiscriminate social behavior in institutionalized Portuguese children? Attachment and Human Development, 16(2), 137–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2013.869237 DOI
Oliveira, P. S., Soares, I., Martins, C., Silva, J. R., Marques, S., Baptista, J., & Lyons-Ruth, K. (2012). Indiscriminate behavior observed in the strange situation among institutionalized toddlers: Relations to caregiver report and to early family risk. Infant Mental Health Journal, 33(2), 187–196. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.20336 DOI
2025/2026
Modelos de Intervenção Psicológica Individual II
Licenciatura
Pessoas e Produtos
Licenciatura
