Kari Trost

Kari Trost serves as Associate Professor (Docent) at Stockholm University's Department of Special Education, with additional affiliation to the Department of Child and Youth Studies. Her academic work bridges educational psychology, developmental science, and children's rights within the Swedish higher education system.

Dr. Trost's research focuses on person-centered approaches and mixed methods methodology, examining developmental psychology through the lenses of parent-child-school staff relationships, positive youth development, and youth well-being. Her expertise spans quantitative methods, statistics, and person-oriented methodology applied to understanding children's rights, youth perspectives, mental health, and social interactions within various youth contexts.

Her research portfolio includes significant projects such as BUVS (studying individual and contextual factors affecting youth well-being and school adaptation), KUPOL (investigating school environments' impact on youth mental health), and SPAN (school prevention work against alcohol and drugs). These projects demonstrate her commitment to translating research into practical applications for educational settings and youth policy.

As an educator, Dr. Trost teaches across multiple psychology domains including social psychology, developmental psychology, positive psychology, work psychology, gerontology, personality psychology, and research methodology. She has extensive experience developing and teaching courses from undergraduate to advanced levels, with particular focus on research design, statistical analysis, and scientific writing within teacher education programs.

Dr. Trost actively supervises graduate students at all levels and currently serves as primary supervisor for Shahram Mansoory's doctoral research on positive youth development. Her methodological expertise in mixed methods and person-oriented approaches informs both her research and teaching practices, contributing significantly to developmental science at Stockholm University.