
Dr Delia Fuhrmann
Senior Lecturer in Psychology
Research interests
- Mental Health
- Psychology
Biography
Dr Delia Fuhrmann studies how the mind and brain changes across the lifespan, and develops measures and models to capture young people’s experiences like loneliness or adversity. She leads the LIFE-MAP Lab, which seeks to provide methodology and knowledge to inform prevention and intervention efforts with the aim of fostering well-being across the lifespan.
Prior to joining King’s, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and a Research Associate at Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge. She completed her PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University College London and her BSc Hons Psychology at the University of St Andrews. Please visit Delia’s personal website for more information.
Research interests
- Lifespan Development
- Longitudinal Modelling
- Psychometrics
- Adverse experiences and stress
- Loneliness
- Plasticity and sensitive periods
Teaching
Delia teaches on the BSc Psychology Programme in the following areas: Research Methods and Open Science and runs coding and statistics workshops and consults on research design and analysis.
Expertise and public engagement
- Runs workshops for educational and clinical practitioners on lifespan development.
- Delivers talks about her research in schools, and participates in panel discussions.
- Contributed articles and research briefings for policy makers and the general public, e.g. in the Times Education Supplement.
The co-occurrence of social adversities in early adolescence and their relationship to cognitive outcomes later in development
Kwok, M. S., Inman, A., Bates, K. E. & Fuhrmann, D., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: JCPP Advances.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
“No One Told You Life Was Gonna be This Way”: A Qualitative Exploration of Friendship Expectations and Reality in University Life
Priestley, M., Slack, H., Islam, M., Fuhrmann, D., Long, E., Crook, S., Foster, J., Homer, S. & Byrom, N., 8 Mar 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Adolescence.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Exploring child and youth understanding of loneliness through qualitative insights and evaluating loneliness measures considering those lived experiences
Qualter, P., Verity, L., Walibhai, W., Fuhrmann, D., Riddleston, L., Alam, I., Conway, J. & Lau, J. Y. F., Feb 2025, In: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1544, 1, p. 42-54 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Exploring how children and adolescents talk about coping strategies relating to loneliness using reflexive thematic analysis: a qualitative study
Burke, L., Verity, L., Riddleston, L., Fuhrmann, D., Qualter, P., Lau, J. Y. F. & Demkowicz, O., 2024, In: Frontiers in Psychiatry. 15, 1462189.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
A framework for understanding adverse adolescent experiences
Pollmann, A., Bates, K. E. & Fuhrmann, D., 20 Feb 2025, In: Nature Human Behaviour. 9, 3, p. 450-463 14 p., 215.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Identifying characteristics of adolescents with persistent loneliness during COVID-19: A multi-country eight-wave longitudinal study
Riddleston, L., Shukla, M., Lavi, I., Saglio, E., Fuhrmann, D., Pandey, R., Singh, T., Qualter, P. & Lau, J. Y. F., 8 Nov 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: JCPP Advances.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Young people's recommended coping strategies to manage social isolation: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in the UK
Jong, A., Riddleston, L., Mathur, M., Duncan, K., Lalioti, K., Fuhrmann, D. & Lau, J. Y. F., 2023, In: Current Research in Behavioral Sciences. 5, 100133.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
“I am concerned about young people’s mental health and that they have less hope for their future”: Practitioners’ emerging concerns for young people between June 2019 to November 2021
Inman, A., Chen, S., Contini, E., Orben, A., Kievit, R., Kulbayeva, Z., Shah, M., Pollmann, A., Fuhrmann, D. & Bates, K., 1 Jun 2023Research output: Book/Report › Report
Making Connections: Neurodevelopmental Changes in Brain Connectivity after Adverse Experiences in Early Adolescence
Pollmann, A., Sasso, R., Bates, K. & Fuhrmann, D., 21 Feb 2024, In: Journal of Neuroscience. 44, 8, e0991232023.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
A call for better research and resources for understanding and combatting youth loneliness: integrating the perspectives of young people and researchers
Alam, I., Khayri, E., Podger, T. A. B., Aspinall, C., Fuhrmann, D. & Lau, J. Y. F., 28 Dec 2022, In: European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review
Networks of Adversity in Childhood and Adolescence and their Relationship to Adult Mental Health
Pollmann, A., Fritz, J., Barker, E. & Fuhrmann, D., Nov 2022, In: Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. p. 2-38 38 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Trajectories of adolescent life satisfaction
Orben, A., Lucas, R. E., Fuhrmann, D. & Kievit, R. A., 3 Aug 2022, In: Royal Society open science. 9, 8, 211808.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The midpoint of cortical thinning between late childhood and early adulthood differs between individuals and brain regions: Evidence from longitudinal modelling in a 12-wave neuroimaging sample
Fuhrmann, D., Skak Madsen, K., Johansen, L. B., Baaré, W. F. C. & Kievit, R. A., 1 Nov 2022, In: NeuroImage. 261, 119507.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Longitudinal development of language and fine motor skills is correlated, but not coupled, in a childhood atypical cohort
Deserno, M. K., Fuhrmann, D., Begeer, S., Borsboom, D., Geurts, H. M. & Kievit, R. A., 26 Apr 2022, In: Autism.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Using large, publicly available data sets to study adolescent development: opportunities and challenges
Kievit, R. A., McCormick, E. M., Fuhrmann, D., Deserno, M. K. & Orben, A., Apr 2022, In: Current Opinion in Psychology. 44, p. 303-308 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Well-Being and Cognition Are Coupled During Development: A Preregistered Longitudinal Study of 1,136 Children and Adolescents
Fuhrmann, D., van Harmelen, A. L. & Kievit, R. A., 31 Aug 2021, In: Clinical Psychological Science.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Is early good or bad? Early puberty onset and its consequences for learning
Laube, C. & Fuhrmann, D., Dec 2020, In: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. 36, p. 150-156 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Perception and recognition of faces in adolescence
Fuhrmann, D., Knoll, L. J., Sakhardande, A. L., Speekenbrink, M., Kadosh, K. C. & Blakemore, S. J., 20 Sept 2016, In: Scientific Reports. 6, 33497.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Synchrony and motor mimicking in chimpanzee observational learning
Fuhrmann, D., Ravignani, A., Marshall-Pescini, S. & Whiten, A., 13 Jun 2014, In: Scientific Reports. 4, 5283.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
A Hierarchical Watershed Model of Fluid Intelligence in Childhood and Adolescence
Fuhrmann, D., Simpson-Kent, I. L., Bathelt, J. & Kievit, R. A., 1 Jan 2020, In: Cerebral Cortex. 30, 1, p. 339-352 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Adolescence as a Sensitive Period of Brain Development
Fuhrmann, D., Knoll, L. J. & Blakemore, S. J., 1 Oct 2015, In: TRENDS IN COGNITIVE SCIENCES. 19, 10, p. 558-566 9 p., 1486.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
A Window of Opportunity for Cognitive Training in Adolescence
Knoll, L. J., Fuhrmann, D., Sakhardande, A. L., Stamp, F., Speekenbrink, M. & Blakemore, S. J., 1 Jan 2016, In: Psychological Science. 27, 12, p. 1620-1631 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Age differences in the prosocial influence effect
Foulkes, L., Leung, J. T., Fuhrmann, D., Knoll, L. J. & Blakemore, S. J., Nov 2018, In: Developmental Science. 21, 6, e12666.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The neural determinants of age-related changes in fluid intelligence: A pre-registered, longitudinal analysis in UK Biobank [version 1; referees: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]
Kievit, R. A., Fuhrmann, D., Borgeest, G. S., Simpson-Kent, I. L. & Henson, R. N. A., 15 Jun 2018, In: Wellcome Open Research. 3, 38.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The neurocognitive correlates of academic diligence in adolescent girls
Fuhrmann, D., Schweizer, S., Leung, J., Griffin, C. & Blakemore, S. J., 3 Apr 2019, In: Cognitive Neuroscience. 10, 2, p. 88-99 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Strong and specific associations between cardiovascular risk factors and white matter micro- and macrostructure in healthy aging
Cam-CAN, Feb 2019, In: Neurobiology of Aging. 74, p. 46-55 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Multimodal integration and vividness in the angular gyrus during episodic encoding and retrieval
Tibon, R., Fuhrmann, D., Levy, D. A., Simons, J. S. & Henson, R. N., 29 May 2019, In: Journal of Neuroscience. 39, 22, p. 4365-4374 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The matrix reasoning item bank (MaRs-IB): Novel, open-access abstract reasoning items for adolescents and adults
Chierchia, G., Fuhrmann, D., Knoll, L. J., Pi-Sunyer, B. P., Sakhardande, A. L. & Blakemore, S. J., 2019, In: Royal Society open science. 6, 10, 190232.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Social exclusion affects working memory performance in young adolescent girls
Fuhrmann, D., Casey, C. S., Speekenbrink, M. & Blakemore, S. J., Dec 2019, In: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 40, 100718.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Neurocognitive reorganization between crystallized intelligence, fluid intelligence and white matter microstructure in two age-heterogeneous developmental cohorts
the CALM Team, Feb 2020, In: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 41, 100743.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Erratum to “Neurocognitive reorganization between crystallized intelligence, fluid intelligence and white matter microstructure in two age-heterogeneous developmental cohorts”
the CALM Team, Apr 2020, In: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 42, 100769.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review
Research

LIFE-MAP Lab at KCL
We study how the mind and brain changes across the lifespan, and the methods and models that can be used to capture their development.
News
Five IoPPN research projects receive UKRI funding
A total of £4.4 million funding from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Medical Research Council (MRC) has been awarded to research projects at the...

The co-occurrence of social adversities in early adolescence and their relationship to cognitive outcomes later in development
Kwok, M. S., Inman, A., Bates, K. E. & Fuhrmann, D., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: JCPP Advances.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
“No One Told You Life Was Gonna be This Way”: A Qualitative Exploration of Friendship Expectations and Reality in University Life
Priestley, M., Slack, H., Islam, M., Fuhrmann, D., Long, E., Crook, S., Foster, J., Homer, S. & Byrom, N., 8 Mar 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Adolescence.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Exploring child and youth understanding of loneliness through qualitative insights and evaluating loneliness measures considering those lived experiences
Qualter, P., Verity, L., Walibhai, W., Fuhrmann, D., Riddleston, L., Alam, I., Conway, J. & Lau, J. Y. F., Feb 2025, In: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1544, 1, p. 42-54 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Exploring how children and adolescents talk about coping strategies relating to loneliness using reflexive thematic analysis: a qualitative study
Burke, L., Verity, L., Riddleston, L., Fuhrmann, D., Qualter, P., Lau, J. Y. F. & Demkowicz, O., 2024, In: Frontiers in Psychiatry. 15, 1462189.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
A framework for understanding adverse adolescent experiences
Pollmann, A., Bates, K. E. & Fuhrmann, D., 20 Feb 2025, In: Nature Human Behaviour. 9, 3, p. 450-463 14 p., 215.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Identifying characteristics of adolescents with persistent loneliness during COVID-19: A multi-country eight-wave longitudinal study
Riddleston, L., Shukla, M., Lavi, I., Saglio, E., Fuhrmann, D., Pandey, R., Singh, T., Qualter, P. & Lau, J. Y. F., 8 Nov 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: JCPP Advances.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Young people's recommended coping strategies to manage social isolation: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in the UK
Jong, A., Riddleston, L., Mathur, M., Duncan, K., Lalioti, K., Fuhrmann, D. & Lau, J. Y. F., 2023, In: Current Research in Behavioral Sciences. 5, 100133.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
“I am concerned about young people’s mental health and that they have less hope for their future”: Practitioners’ emerging concerns for young people between June 2019 to November 2021
Inman, A., Chen, S., Contini, E., Orben, A., Kievit, R., Kulbayeva, Z., Shah, M., Pollmann, A., Fuhrmann, D. & Bates, K., 1 Jun 2023Research output: Book/Report › Report
Making Connections: Neurodevelopmental Changes in Brain Connectivity after Adverse Experiences in Early Adolescence
Pollmann, A., Sasso, R., Bates, K. & Fuhrmann, D., 21 Feb 2024, In: Journal of Neuroscience. 44, 8, e0991232023.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
A call for better research and resources for understanding and combatting youth loneliness: integrating the perspectives of young people and researchers
Alam, I., Khayri, E., Podger, T. A. B., Aspinall, C., Fuhrmann, D. & Lau, J. Y. F., 28 Dec 2022, In: European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review
Networks of Adversity in Childhood and Adolescence and their Relationship to Adult Mental Health
Pollmann, A., Fritz, J., Barker, E. & Fuhrmann, D., Nov 2022, In: Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. p. 2-38 38 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Trajectories of adolescent life satisfaction
Orben, A., Lucas, R. E., Fuhrmann, D. & Kievit, R. A., 3 Aug 2022, In: Royal Society open science. 9, 8, 211808.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The midpoint of cortical thinning between late childhood and early adulthood differs between individuals and brain regions: Evidence from longitudinal modelling in a 12-wave neuroimaging sample
Fuhrmann, D., Skak Madsen, K., Johansen, L. B., Baaré, W. F. C. & Kievit, R. A., 1 Nov 2022, In: NeuroImage. 261, 119507.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Longitudinal development of language and fine motor skills is correlated, but not coupled, in a childhood atypical cohort
Deserno, M. K., Fuhrmann, D., Begeer, S., Borsboom, D., Geurts, H. M. & Kievit, R. A., 26 Apr 2022, In: Autism.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Using large, publicly available data sets to study adolescent development: opportunities and challenges
Kievit, R. A., McCormick, E. M., Fuhrmann, D., Deserno, M. K. & Orben, A., Apr 2022, In: Current Opinion in Psychology. 44, p. 303-308 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Well-Being and Cognition Are Coupled During Development: A Preregistered Longitudinal Study of 1,136 Children and Adolescents
Fuhrmann, D., van Harmelen, A. L. & Kievit, R. A., 31 Aug 2021, In: Clinical Psychological Science.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Is early good or bad? Early puberty onset and its consequences for learning
Laube, C. & Fuhrmann, D., Dec 2020, In: Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. 36, p. 150-156 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Perception and recognition of faces in adolescence
Fuhrmann, D., Knoll, L. J., Sakhardande, A. L., Speekenbrink, M., Kadosh, K. C. & Blakemore, S. J., 20 Sept 2016, In: Scientific Reports. 6, 33497.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Synchrony and motor mimicking in chimpanzee observational learning
Fuhrmann, D., Ravignani, A., Marshall-Pescini, S. & Whiten, A., 13 Jun 2014, In: Scientific Reports. 4, 5283.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
A Hierarchical Watershed Model of Fluid Intelligence in Childhood and Adolescence
Fuhrmann, D., Simpson-Kent, I. L., Bathelt, J. & Kievit, R. A., 1 Jan 2020, In: Cerebral Cortex. 30, 1, p. 339-352 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Adolescence as a Sensitive Period of Brain Development
Fuhrmann, D., Knoll, L. J. & Blakemore, S. J., 1 Oct 2015, In: TRENDS IN COGNITIVE SCIENCES. 19, 10, p. 558-566 9 p., 1486.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
A Window of Opportunity for Cognitive Training in Adolescence
Knoll, L. J., Fuhrmann, D., Sakhardande, A. L., Stamp, F., Speekenbrink, M. & Blakemore, S. J., 1 Jan 2016, In: Psychological Science. 27, 12, p. 1620-1631 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Age differences in the prosocial influence effect
Foulkes, L., Leung, J. T., Fuhrmann, D., Knoll, L. J. & Blakemore, S. J., Nov 2018, In: Developmental Science. 21, 6, e12666.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The neural determinants of age-related changes in fluid intelligence: A pre-registered, longitudinal analysis in UK Biobank [version 1; referees: 2 approved, 1 approved with reservations]
Kievit, R. A., Fuhrmann, D., Borgeest, G. S., Simpson-Kent, I. L. & Henson, R. N. A., 15 Jun 2018, In: Wellcome Open Research. 3, 38.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The neurocognitive correlates of academic diligence in adolescent girls
Fuhrmann, D., Schweizer, S., Leung, J., Griffin, C. & Blakemore, S. J., 3 Apr 2019, In: Cognitive Neuroscience. 10, 2, p. 88-99 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Strong and specific associations between cardiovascular risk factors and white matter micro- and macrostructure in healthy aging
Cam-CAN, Feb 2019, In: Neurobiology of Aging. 74, p. 46-55 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Multimodal integration and vividness in the angular gyrus during episodic encoding and retrieval
Tibon, R., Fuhrmann, D., Levy, D. A., Simons, J. S. & Henson, R. N., 29 May 2019, In: Journal of Neuroscience. 39, 22, p. 4365-4374 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The matrix reasoning item bank (MaRs-IB): Novel, open-access abstract reasoning items for adolescents and adults
Chierchia, G., Fuhrmann, D., Knoll, L. J., Pi-Sunyer, B. P., Sakhardande, A. L. & Blakemore, S. J., 2019, In: Royal Society open science. 6, 10, 190232.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Social exclusion affects working memory performance in young adolescent girls
Fuhrmann, D., Casey, C. S., Speekenbrink, M. & Blakemore, S. J., Dec 2019, In: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 40, 100718.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Neurocognitive reorganization between crystallized intelligence, fluid intelligence and white matter microstructure in two age-heterogeneous developmental cohorts
the CALM Team, Feb 2020, In: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 41, 100743.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Erratum to “Neurocognitive reorganization between crystallized intelligence, fluid intelligence and white matter microstructure in two age-heterogeneous developmental cohorts”
the CALM Team, Apr 2020, In: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 42, 100769.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review
Research

LIFE-MAP Lab at KCL
We study how the mind and brain changes across the lifespan, and the methods and models that can be used to capture their development.
News
Five IoPPN research projects receive UKRI funding
A total of £4.4 million funding from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Medical Research Council (MRC) has been awarded to research projects at the...
