Dr. Marijana Matijaš Presented at the International Conference Psychology in Transition: Adapting to a Rapidly Changing World

At the international conference Psychology in Transition: Adapting to a Rapidly Changing World, organized on 19 September 2025 by the Department of Psychology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split, Dr. Marijana Matijaš from the Department of Psychology of the Catholic University of Croatia participated.

As part of the conference, she gave an oral presentation entitled “Softening the struggle: Self-compassion as a protective factor against stress and mental health problems in early career researchers.” The presentation was prepared and delivered in collaboration with Dr. Ivana Burić from the University of Amsterdam, presenting the results of a study on the mental health of young researchers in the Netherlands, which Dr. Matijaš carried out in cooperation with Dr. Burić and Dr. Stefan T. Mol earlier this year. The research was conducted within the framework of the professional development program Mobility Program – Outgoing Mobility of Senior Assistants, funded by the Croatian Science Foundation (MOBODL-2023-12-6514).

The results of this longitudinal study show that self-compassion is associated with lower levels of stress and mental health problems among young researchers, partly through the reduction of maladaptive coping strategies. This highlights the importance of personal resources, but also the need for systematic changes in the academic environment.