The research group GIDOP (Optimal Development Research Group) has its origins in two research groups of the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology of the Universitat de València and was created with the aim of combining efforts and resources in related lines of work.

On the one hand, the GIOE (Research Group in Evolutionary Optimisation) created in 2001 is a multidisciplinary group whose strategic philosophy is the optimisation of human development from a contextual perspective with an emphasis on applied research. The work is applied developmental psychology combines a developmental and community approach and is guided by the values of participation, social justice, collaboration of the groups involved and personal and community empowerment.

On the other hand, the Affective Attachments Research Group, also created in 2001, studies affective attachments: their formation, their development, their loss, and their implications in different areas of development. Its interest lies in the analysis of the most significant bonds throughout life: the parent-child bond, infant attachment and bonds after infancy: adolescent attachment, adult attachment, friendship, couple relationship, etc.

Our research group has extensive experience in research projects funded both by national and international public bodies and by contracts with companies, institutions and social entities. It has also published numerous scientific publications in the form of books, articles and contributions to conferences. The participation of team members in the design and implementation of training courses requested by different entities is very relevant.

Finally, an area of special interest since our origins has been the transfer of knowledge through coordinated community-university work that has allowed the continuous application of actions with theoretical and methodological rigour in schools, town councils and social entities.

Our central focus is on evolutionary optimisation by promoting optimal development throughout life. At present, GIDOP's research activity is structured into six main lines of research that study optimal development and emphasise all those areas that have a major impact on development. Specifically, we work on perinatal development; the exercise of parenthood and its implications; development in adolescence, a crucial stage in the construction of personal identity; affective bonds throughout life, including the main important relationships in our development; the development of personal, emotional and social competencies to promote strengths and reduce possible limitations; and finally, the development of tolerance and the promotion of coexistence, a line that has yielded important results in recent years.

The main objectives of the research group are: 

• To advance the conceptualisation of optimal development at all stages of life.
• To study in depth methods and strategies to optimise development and promote well-being and health. 
• To develop and validate instruments for the evaluation and diagnosis of the psychological variables worked on.
• To work in the field of applied developmental psychology, facilitating the optimal development and well-being of individuals. 
• To offer services and interventions to public and private entities with the aim of increasing potentials and strengths, as well as decreasing personal and social limitations.

Contributors

• Salvador Avià Faure -Vegga Strategic Innovation Partnership (Barcelona).
• Raquel Bañuls Bertomeu - EDI Psicologos (Valencia).
• Sara Jort Povea - Sara Jort Povea Clinic (Valencia).
• Laura Marzo Garcia - Universitat de València.
• Remedios Melero Cavero - Crime Victims Assistance Office (Valencia).
• Diana Paricio Andrés - Canal de Navarrés Commonwealth (Valencia).
• Àngel Rossell Talegón - Cerdanyola del Vallès City Council (Barcelona).

Other professional, scientific and technical activities n.e.c.