Dr. Melanie Kungl

Dr. Melanie Kungl, Dipl.-Psych.

Research Associate

Institute of Psychology
Chair of Developmental and Educational Psychology

Room: Raum 2.112
Nägelsbachstr. 49a
91052 Erlangen

Office Hours

During the winter semester 2025/26: Thursdays, 4:00–5:00 p.m.; appointments outside these hours can be arranged by email.

 

Short CV

Melanie Kungl has been a research associate at the Chair of Educational and Developmental Psychology since 2009. Since 2018, she has been training to become a licensed psychological psychotherapist (psychodynamic psychotherapy, adults). Her research and clinical work are linked by a shared focus on the relevance of early attachment experiences for behavior and subjective experience in adulthood.

Since completing her doctorate in 2016, Melanie Kungl has worked on various collaborative projects focusing on the investigation of the neurobiological foundations and correlates of attachment relationships. In addition to established methods of attachment research, neuroscientific approaches (e.g., EEG, fNIRS) are employed. She is a member of the Special Interest Research Group (SIRG) Social Neuroscience of Attachment (SoNeAt).

As a postdoctoral researcher (Habilitandin) at FAU, Melanie Kungl submitted her habilitation thesis in 2025 entitled: “Traditional and neuroscientific perspectives on attachment: A multimodal approach to a dyadic construct.” She is currently supported by a fellowship provided by the Free State of Bavaria to promote equal opportunities for women in research and teaching.

Current Projects

D-CARE / M-CARE: Parent–child interaction and its neurobiological correlates

Studies and Teaching

Advanced seminar Family Law Psychology (Master’s program)

Scholarly Contributions

Editorial activities:

Themenheft „Risiko und Resilienz im Kindes- und Jugendalter“ in Psychologie in Erziehung und Unterricht. Guest Editors: Gottfried Spangler, Sandra Gabler, Melanie Kungl. https://elibrary.utb.de/toc/peu/70/1

Special Issue „Social Neuroscience of Human Attachment“ in Attachment & Human Development. Guest Editors Pascal Vrticka, Lars White, Melanie Kungl.  https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rahd20/25/1

Publications in peer reviewed Journals

*shared first authorship

White, L.O., Gabler, S., Spangler, G., Vrticka, P. & Kungl., M.T. (revision in prep.).  The transmission of attachment related representations at preschool-age: The role of parental sensitivity. Preprint:  https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/8ng7s_v1

Gallistl, M., Handke, L., Kungl, M. T., Gabler, S., Croy, I., Vrticka, P., Engert, V. (2025). Securely stressed: association between attachment and empathic stress in romantic couples. Nature Scientific Reports 15, 32420 (2025).  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13970-9

Gallistl, M., Kungl, M.T., Gabler, S., Kanske, P., Vrticka, P., Engert, V. (2024). Attachment and inter-individual differences in empathic processing. Attachment and Human Development. 26(4), 350-365. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2024.2376762

Nguyen, T.* & Kungl., M.T.*, Hoehl, S., White, L.O. & Vrticka, P. (2024). Visualizing the invisible tie: Linking parent-child neural synchrony to parent and child attachment representations. Developmental Science. 27(6), e13504.  https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13504

Kungl, M.T.* & Gabler, S.*, White, L.O., Vrticka, P. & Spangler, G. (2024). Precursors and effects of parental reflective functioning: Links to caregivers’ attachment representations and behavioral sensitivity.  Child Psychiatry and Human Development.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-023-01654-2

Kungl, M.* & Gabler, S.*, & Spangler, G. (2023). Die Bedeutung von Resilienz für die kindliche Entwicklung aus biopsychosozialer Perspektive [The meaning of resilience for child development from a biopsychosocial perspective]. Psychologie in Erziehung und Unterricht, 70(1), 3-20.   https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2378/peu2023.art02d

Spangler, G., Gabler, S., & Kungl, M., (2023). Editorial zum Themenheft: Risiko und Resilienz im Kindes- und Jugendalter. Psychologie in Erziehung und Unterricht, 70(1), 1-2.  https://doi.org/10.2378/peu2023.art01d

White, L.O., Kungl, M., & Vrticka, P. (2023). Charting the social neuroscience of human attachment (SoNeAt). Attachment & Human Development, 25(1), 1-18.  https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2023.2167777

Kungl, M.T.* & Vrticka, P.*, Heinisch, C., Beckmann, M. W., Fasching, P. A., Ziegler, C., & Spangler, G. (2022). Deactivating attachment strategies associate with early processing of facial emotion and familiarity in middle childhood: an ERP study. Attachment & Human Development, 25(1), 199-217.  https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2022.2132050

Nguyen, T., Schleihauf, H., Kungl, M.T., Kayhan, E., Hoehl, S., & Vrtička, P. (2021). Interpersonal Neural Synchrony During Father–Child Problem Solving: An fNIRS Hyperscanning Study. Child Development, 92(4), e565-e580.  https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13510

White, L.O., Schulz, C.C., Schoett, M.J.S., Kungl, M.T., Keil, J., Borelli, J.L., & Vrticka, P. (2020). Conceptual Analysis: A Social Neuroscience Approach to Interpersonal Interaction in the Context of Disruption and Disorganization of Attachment (NAMDA). Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.517372

Kungl, M. T*., Rutherford, H. J.*, Heinisch, C., Beckmann, M. W., Fasching, P. A., & Spangler, G. (2020). Does anxiety impact the neural processing of child faces in mothers of school-aged children? An ERP study using an emotional Go/NoGo task. Social Neuroscience, 15(5), 530-543.  https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2020.1788988

Kungl, M. T., Gabler, S., Bovenschen, I., Lang, K., Zimmermann, J., & Spangler, G. (2019). Attachment, dependency, and attachment-related behaviors in foster children: A closer look at the nature of the foster child–caregiver relationship. Developmental Child Welfare, 1(2), 107-123.  https://doi.org/10.1177/2516103219845374

Gabler, S., Kungl, M., Bovenschen, I., Lang, K., Zimmermann, J., Nowacki, K., … & Spangler, G. (2018). Predictors of foster parents’ stress and associations to sensitivity in the first year after placement. Child abuse & neglect, 79, 325-338.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.02.009

Kungl, M. T., Bovenschen, I., & Spangler, G. (2017). Early adverse caregiving experiences and preschoolers’ current attachment affect brain responses during facial familiarity processing: An ERP study. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 2047.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02047

Kungl, M. T., Leyh, R., & Spangler, G. (2016). Attachment representations and brain asymmetry during the processing of autobiographical emotional memories in late adolescence. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10, 644.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00644

Leyh, R., Heinisch, C., Kungl, M. T., & Spangler, G. (2016). Attachment representation moderates the influence of emotional context on information processing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10, 278.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00278

Media Reviews Based on Previous Projects:

Rosenfeld, J. (2016). Could an insecure childhood have an impact on your career trajectory? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2016/12/02/could-an-insecure-childhood-have-a-big-impact-on-your-career-trajectory/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f7679cf5b6d8

LaBier, D. (2016). An insecure childhood affect how you deal with adult stress. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-new-resilience/201609/insecure-childhood-affects-how-you-deal-adult-stress