TimingStress is an interdisciplinary research project that investigates the impact of everyday time management on stress and sleep among parents and young children. The project explores how societal expectations and institutional time structures—from daycare hours to work schedules—interact with personal routines, and how these dynamics shape family wellbeing. By better understanding the roots of time-related stress, the project seeks to uncover pathways for effective prevention and support. 

Using a mix of ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and public engagement, TimingStress draws on perspectives from sociology, public health, psychology, and the humanities. The research not only aims to identify risk factors, but also to co-develop practical tools and policy advice in collaboration with families, youth health professionals, and societal partners. 

This project collaborates closely with organizations such as GGD Amsterdam, the Sarphati Cohort, and Rijksmuseum Boerhaave to ensure that findings are grounded in lived experiences and can inform broader public conversations on health, parenting, and time in contemporary society. 

Research team:

Dr. Nadia van der Spek 
Amsterdam UMC / De Amsterdamse Psychologenpraktijk 

Dr. Margreet Harskamp-van Ginkel 
Youth Health Care (JGZ), GGD Amsterdam / Department of Occupational Health, Amsterdam UMC 

Zana Costa Chadud Cosac, MA 
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG), Sociology