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Dr Rosa Hoekstra

Lecturer in Psychology

The Open University Faculty of Science Department of Life, Health & Chemical Sciences

Profile

Dr Rosa Hoekstra is a lecturer in The Open University's Science faculty. After completing her PhD in Behavior Genetics at the VU University in Amsterdam, she continued her research at Cambridge University’s Autism Research Centre. Since 2009 she combines her autism research with teaching in the fields of Psychology and Genetics.

Her academic interests broadly cover three themes:
i) Furthering the understanding of the heterogeneity of autism, by developing quantitative instruments to assess the variable expression of the autism phenotype, and exploring the genetic and environmental influences on the autism phenotype using both twin and family study designs.
ii) The epidemiology of autism and understanding the factors that may account for regional differences in autism prevalence rates.
iii) Global perspectives on autism, with a special focus on Africa.

In her family and epidemiology studies of autism she collaborates with colleagues at the Autism Research Centre of Cambridge University, where she is a visiting scientist.

At The Open University, she chairs the level 1 module ‘SK195 Human Genetics and Health Issues’ and she teaches the module ‘SK124 Understanding the Autism Spectrum’, a highly successful introductory autism course that had over 1,100 students in each of the first two years of module presentation. She co-authored the textbook for this module, which is co-published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers as Roth, I., Barson, C., Hoekstra, R.A., Pasco, G., and Whatson, T.W., 2010. The Autism Spectrum in the 21st Century: Exploring Psychology, Biology and Practice.

She worked as an academic editor on the Open University’s Health Education And Training project in Ethiopia and had the prime responsibility for the production of the mental health study sessions for this project, working intensively with a group of Ethiopian psychiatrists and mental health experts.

Please see the tab 'Publications' for her publication list and links to the full text of peer-reviewed articles.

Publications

Authored Book
Roth, Ilona; Barson, Chris; Hoekstra, Rosa; Pasco, Greg and Whatson, Terry (2010). The Autism Spectrum in the 21st Century: Exploring Psychology, Biology and Practice. London/Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Book Chapter
Hoekstra, Rosa and Whatson, Terry (2010). Biological explanations. In: Roth, Ilona; Barson, Chris and Hoekstra, Rosa eds. The Autism Spectrum in the 21st Century: Exploring Psychology, Biology and Practice. London/Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Conference Item
Hoekstra, R.; Vinkhuyzen, A. A. E.; van der Sluis, S. and Posthuma, D. (2010). Disentangling genetic and assortative mating effects on autistic traits: an extended twin family study in adults. In: 40th Annual Meeting of the Behavior Genetics Association, June 2010, Seoul.
Hoekstra, R.; Ronald, A.; Happé, F.; Baron-Cohen, S. and Plomin, R. (2008). Genetic influences on extreme autistic traits and intellectual impairment: overlap and specificity. In: 38th Annual Meeting of the Behavior Genetics Association, June 2008, Louisville.
Hoekstra, R.; Bartels, M.; Estourgie-van Burk, G. F.; Verweij, C. J. H. and Boomsma, D. I. (2007). Genetic and environmental influences on autistic traits and its association with peer interaction: a general population twin study. In: 37th Annual Meeting of the Behavior Genetics Association, Amsterdam, 03-06 Jun 2007.
Boomsma, D. I.; Bartels, M.; van Beijsterveldt, C. E. M.; Luciano, M.; de Geus, E. J. C.; Posthuma, D.; Hottenga, J. J.; Hoekstra, R.; Estourgie-van Burk, G. F.; Delemarre-van de Waal, H. A. and Martin, N. G. (2007). Heritability of head size in Dutch and Australian twin families at ages 5 – 50 years. In: 37th Annual Meeting of the Behavior Genetics Association, 03-06 Jun 2007, Amsterdam.
Hoekstra, R.; Bartels, M.; Hudziak, J. J.; van Beijsterveldt, C. E. M. and Boomsma, D. I. (2005). Genetic and environmental mechanisms underlying stability in childhood withdrawn behavior. In: 35th Annual Meeting of the Behavior Genetics Association, 29 Jun-02 Jul 2005, Los Angeles.
Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Bartels, Meike and Boomsma, Dorret I. (2005). Heritability of testosterone levels in 12-year-old twins. In: ISTS Mid-Congress Conference, 29 June 2005, Los Angeles.
Journal Article
Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Vinkhuyzen, Anna A. E.; Wheelwright, Sally; Bartels, Meike; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Posthuma, Danielle and van der Sluis, Sophie (2011). The construction and validation of an abridged version of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ-Short). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41(5), pp. 589–596.
Ronald, Angelica and Hoekstra, Rosa A. (2011). Autism spectrum disorders and autistic traits: a decade of new twin studies. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 156(3), pp. 255–274.
Roelfsema, Martine T.; Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Allison, Carrie; Wheelwright, Sally; Brayne, Carol; Matthews, Fiona E. and Baron-Cohen, Simon (2011). Are autism spectrum conditions more prevalent in an information-technology region? A school-based study of three regions in the Netherlands. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (In press).
Sucksmith, E.; Roth, I. and Hoekstra, R. A. (2011). Autistic Traits Below the Clinical Threshold: Re-examining the Broader Autism Phenotype in the 21st Century. Neuropsychology Review Online First.
Hoekstra, Rosa A. and Wheelwright, Sally (2010). Autistic traits in simplex and multiplex autism families: Focus on unaffected relatives. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 153B(1), pp. 356–358.
Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Happé, Francesca; Baron-Cohen, Simon and Ronald, Angelica (2010). Limited genetic covariance between autistic traits and intelligence: Findings from a longitudinal twin study. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 153B(5), pp. 994–1007.
Hoekstra, Rosa; Happé, Francesca; Baron-Cohen, Simon and Ronald, Angelica (2009). Association between extreme autistic traits and intellectual disability: insights from a general population twin study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 195(6), pp. 531–536.
Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Bartels, Meike; Van Leeuwen, Marieke and Boomsma, Dorret I. (2009). Genetic architecture of verbal abilities in children and adolescents. Developmental Science, 12(6), pp. 1041–1053.
van Leeuwen, Marieke; van den Berg, Stéphanie M.; Hoekstra, Rosa A. and Boomsma, Dorret I. (2009). The genetic and environmental structure of verbal and visuospatial memory in young adults and children. Neuropsychology, 23(6), pp. 792–802.
Polderman, Tinca J. C.; de Geus, Eco J. C.; Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Bartels, Meike; van Leeuwen, Marieke; Verhulst, Frank C.; Posthuma, Danielle and Boomsma, Dorret I. (2009). Attention problems, inhibitory control, and intelligence index overlapping genetic factors: a study in 9-, 12-, and 18-year-old twins. Neuropsychology, 23(3), pp. 381–391.
Estourgie-van Burk, G. Frederiek; Bartels, Meike; Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Polderman, Tinca J. C.; Delemarre-van de Waal, Henriette A. and Boomsma, Dorret I. (2009). A twin study of cognitive costs of low birth weight and catch-up growth. Journal of Pediatrics, 154(1), pp. 29–32.
Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Bartels, Meike; Cath, Danielle C. and Boomsma, Dorret I. (2008). Factor structure, reliability and criterion validity of the Autism-Spectrum quotient (AQ): A study in Dutch population and patient groups. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(8), pp. 1555–1566.
Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Bartels, Meike; Hudziak, James J.; Van Beijsterveldt, Toos C. E. M. and Boomsma, Dorret I. (2008). Genetic and environmental influences on the stability of withdrawn behavior in children: A longitudinal, multi-informant twin study. Behavior Genetics, 38(5), pp. 447–461.
Boomsma, Dorret I.; van Beijsterveld, Toos C. E. M.; Beem, A. Leo; Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Polderman, Tinca J. c. and Bartels, Meike (2008). Intelligence and birth order in boys and girls. Intelligence, 36(6), pp. 630–634.
Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Bartels, Meike and Boomsma, Dorret I. (2007). Longitudinal genetic study of verbal and nonverbal IQ from early childhood to young adulthood. Learning and Individual Differences, 17(2), pp. 97–114.
Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Bartels, Meike; Hudziak, James J.; Van Beijsterveldt, Toos C. E. M. and Boomsma, Dorret I. (2007). Genetic and environmental covariation between autistic traits and behavioral problems. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 10(6), pp. 853–860.
Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Bartels, Meike; Verweij, Catharina J. H. and Boomsma, Dorret I. (2007). Heritability of autistic traits in the general population. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 161(4), pp. 372–377.
van Leeuwen, Marieke; van den Berg, Stephanie; Hoekstra, Rosa and Boomsma, Dorret (2007). Endophenotypes for intelligence in children and adolescents. Intelligence, 35(4), pp. 369–380.
Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Bartels, Meike and Boomsma, Dorret I. (2006). Heritability of testosterone levels in 12-year-old twins and its relation to pubertal development. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 9(4), pp. 558–565.
Baron-Cohen, Simon; Hoekstra, Rosa A.; Knickmeyer, Rebecca and Wheelwright, Sally (2006). The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ)-Adolescent Version. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36(3), pp. 343–350.
Knickmeyer, Rebecca C.; Wheelwright, Sally; Hoekstra, Rosa and Baron-Cohen, Simon (2006). Age of menarche in females with autism spectrum conditions. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 48 pp. 1007–1008.
Ligthart, Lannie; Bartels, Meike; Hoekstra, Rosa. A.; Hudziak, James J. and Boomsma, Dorret I. (2005). Genetic contributions to subtypes of aggression. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 8(5), pp. 483–491.

last updated 24-Aug-2011