Welcome!
This website is addressed to parent/carers of children 9-12 years old who present attention deficits or have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and are interested in being informed and/or take part in a research program that concers the development and implementation of an intervention program for children with attention deficits utilizing the potentials of innovative virtual reality technology (Virtual Reality, VR). This research study is conducted by the Applied Psychology Laboratory of the Department of Psychology of University of Crete in collaboration with the Center for Research and Studies (UCRC) of the University of Crete under the scientific supervision of Dr. Panagiota Dimitropoulou, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology.
The 'Child ViReal Support' intervention program has been developed within the framework of the doctoral thesis of Iouliani Pachiti, who is a PhD candidate at the Department of Psychology at the University of Crete. Her doctoral thesis is part of the European Consortium Neo-PRISM-C which is funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (Project No. 813546). The research has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Crete (REC-UOC, Reference No. 51/25.02.2020).
You can browse our website to get more information about the research study and the intervention program.
Thank you for your interest and we hope to see you in person soon!
Our team
Dr. Panagiota Dimitropoulou
Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology,
Department of Psychology, University of Crete
Dr. Panagiota Dimitropoulou is the Scientific Supervisor of 'Child ViReal Support' intervention program. She studied Psychology at the Department of Psychology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and she completed at the same Department her postgraduate studies specializing in School Psychology, as well as her doctoral thesis in the field of Educational Psychology. Her research interests focus on the investigation of psychosocial variables related to school classrooms and the adjustment of children with or without learning difficulties. More specifically, she focuses on the effects of motivation and academic emotions that emerge during learning, as well as on the investigation of variables related to the psychoemotional adaptation of students and the promotion of their mental health in the school context. Finally, the development, implementation and evaluation of intervention programs using innovative technologies are a key field of her scientific interests. She has published scientific articles in Greek and international journals. Furthermore, she is Co-coordinator of the Division of School Psychology of the Hellenic Psychological Society, Convenor of the Board of Promotion and Prevention of EFPA and member of the Board of the 'Spyros Doxiadis' Diagnostic and Therapeutic Unit for Children.
Iouliani Pachiti
PhD Candidate,
Department of Psychology, University of Crete
Iouliani Pachiti is a PhD Candidate in Psychology at the University of Crete. Her doctoral thesis focuses on the development, implementation and evaluation of the 'Child ViReal Support' intervention program for children with attention deficits and their parents. She has completed the 3-year master's program (MA) in Applied School Psychology at the University of Cyprus (2014) and she is a Licenced School Psychologist in Cyprus. Also, in 2010 she obtained a Bachelor's Degree (BA) in Psychology from the University of Cyprus, while she has worked in various research projects and studies as an undergraduate and postgraduate research assistant. Her research interests focus on the development and implementation of intervention programs for children with learning difficulties and neurodevelopmental dysfunctions, on the use of innovative technologies as part of interventions (e.g., virtual reality), as well as on the study of factors influencing the effectiveness of interventions. Moreover, her research interests include the adaptation and design of psychometric tests for children (e.g., assessment of language skills).
Rafailia Spyridou
School Psychologist,
Research Assistant
Rafailia Spyridou is a School Psychologist and Research Assistant at the 'Child ViReal Support' intervention program. She studied Psychology at the Department of Psychology of the University of Crete. Afterwards, she completed her postgraduate studies in the Interdepartmental Master of Special Education at the University of Crete. She is currently working as a school psychologist in primary and secondary schools in Rethymnon. In the past, she worked as a psychologist in a special treatment center for children with pervasive developmental disorders, attention deficits, learning difficulties, as well as behavioral and emotional difficulties. In addition, she attends seminars and trainings on school psychology, applied behavior analysis and cognitive-behavioral therapy for children and adolescents.
Katerina Garefalaki
School Psychologist,
Research Assistant
Katerina Garefalaki is a School Psychologist and Research Assistant at the 'Child ViReal Support' intervention program. She studied Psychology at the Department of Psychology of the University of Crete. Afterwards, she completed a Master's Degree in School Psychology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and she holds a professional psychologist licence since 2019. She is currently trained in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for children, adolescents and adults of the Society for Cognitive-Behavioral Studies. As part of her internship, she has worked at the Community Children and Adolescents' Mental Health Center in Heraklion, at the NKUA's School Psychology Laboratory, in primary and secondary education schools and in a Day Health Care Centre for persons with disabilities. Also, on a voluntary level, she has worked at the 'I live with cancer' association in Heraklion, while she has attended several scientific conferences, educational seminars and workshops.