Brief biography
Mauri Marttunen (dob 26.3.1954), MD, PhD, has been a Professor of Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Helsinki, Finland, since 2007. He is the Head of the Specialist Training Programme in Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Helsinki. Major previous appointments have been Professor of Psychiatry, University of Oulu (2003-2004), Professor of Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Eastern Finland (2004-2007), Research Professor, National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL, 2007-2016), Head of Department of Mental Health and Substance Use Services (THL, 2011-2014), and Head of Mental Health Unit (THL, 2015-2016).
Professor Marttunen started his research at the National Suicide Prevention Project in Finland in the late 1980s. His doctoral thesis on suicide among Finnish adolescents was the largest psychological autopsy study of youth suicides at that time. Thereafter, his research has covered suicidal behaviour, risk factors, course and outcome of depression and other psychiatric disorders in adolescents and young adults, psychiatric epidemiology, efficacy of psychiatric treatment, and recovery of traumatized adolescents. After the school shootings in Finland in 2007 and 2008, his study group analysed the recovery and factors associated with good/poor recovery during a two-year follow-up of post-traumatic symptoms of 420 students exposed to the shootings relative to 866 non-exposed subjects from comparable schools. His current research includes also a randomized trial of interpersonal counselling (IPC) for youth depression in schools and pilot trials of CBT for adolescent depressive and anxiety disorders.
His current research is based mainly on datasets of a prospective cohort of adolescent inpatients (Kellokoski Adolescent Inpatient Follow-up Study, KAIFUS), an 8-year follow-up of a clinical cohort of 218 adolescent outpatients with mood disorders and 200 controls from the HUCH District (Adolescent Depression Study, ADS), and a 5-year follow-up of over 3000 9th grade students from the cities of Tampere and Vantaa (Adolescent Mental Health Cohort, AMHC study, co-PI Professor Riittakerttu Kaltiala-Heino, University of Tampere). In collaboration with Docent Klaus Ranta, MD, PhD, his current research includes also a randomized trial of interpersonal counselling (IPC) for youth depression in schools and pilot trials of CBT for adolescent depressive and anxiety disorders.
Professor Marttunen is a member of the Finnish Task Force for Current Care Guidelines for Depression, a member of the national Bipolar Disorder Guideline Task Force, and a member of the Finnish Task Force for Current Care Guidelines for Anxiety Disorders.
He has had memberships in editorial boards of national and international scientific journals and other expert roles. By 26 September 2017, he had authored or co-authored 219 international and 26 national original publications, and 206 reviews, chapters in textbooks, or editorials. According to the Scopus, his publications have been cited 6471 times (h-index 42). He has been an editor of the textbooks Psykiatria (Psychiatry) and Lastenpsykiatria ja nuorisopsykiatria (Child Psychiatry and Adolescent Psychiatry). He has supervised 14 completed PhD theses.
Major research projects:
National Suicide Prevention Project in Finland (Senior Researcher) 1987-
Peijas Cohort of Adolescent Outpatients, PCAO (PI) 1995-
Adolescent Depression Study, ADS (PI) 1998-
Mental Health in Young Adults, MHYA (Senior Researcher) 1996-
Helsinki Psychotherapy Project (Senior Researcher) 1998-2009
Adolescent Mental Health Cohort Study, AMHC (co-PI) 2000-
Stress, Development, and Mental Health Study (PI) 2009-
Kellokoski Adolescent Inpatient Follow-up Study, KAIFUS (Senior Researcher) 2005-
Jokela and Kauhajoki school shooting studies (PI) 2007-