Dr Sella DEVITA

Dr Sella DEVITA

Research Fellow

Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies (NUS Nursing),
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.

Teaching Areas

Dr. Sella Devita is a Research Fellow at the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. Prior to entering academia, she practiced as a Registered Nurse in the perinatology unit of Mother-Child Hospital in Jakarta, where she received specialized training in perinatal nursing and direct mother–infant care. In 2018, she was awarded the fully funded Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship to pursue a Master of Public Health at the University of Debrecen, Hungary, completing her degree in 2020. Following that, Dr. Devita was awarded a prestigious Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship to undertake doctoral studies in Nursing Science at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, from 2021 to 2024. During her PhD, she received training and certification in coding mother–infant interaction using the Global Rating Scale manual and in assessing infant development with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Her interdisciplinary research focus on post-traumatic stress symptoms related to childbirth, their impact on mother–infant relationship (i.e., bonding, interaction, heart rate variability physiological synchrony) and child development, and broader perinatal mental health nursing. She still actively contributes to Working Group 1 of the COST Action “Maternal Perinatal Stress and Adverse Outcomes in the Offspring: Maximising Infants’ Development” (TREASURE, CA22114) that aim to conceptualize maternal perinatal stress and explore its psychological and biological underpinnings.

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Science at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, with Swiss Government Excellence scholarship.
  • Master in Public Health (Honours) at the University of Debrecen, Hungary, with Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship.
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing Profession, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia.
  • Bachelor of Nursing Science, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia, with cum laude.

    Research Interests

    • Mother-child health
    • Traumatic childbirth
    • Child development
    • Perinatal mental health nursing

    Publications DOI Impact Factor
    Devita, S., Messerli-Bürgy, N., Lacroix, A., Deforges, C., Bozicevic, L., Rattaz, V., Tolsa, J.-F., Sandoz, V., & Horsch, A. (2025). Mother-infant physiological synchrony in the context of childbirth-related posttraumatic stress symptoms. Infant Behavior and Development, 78, 102037. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2025.102037 2
    Devita, S., Bozicevic, L., Deforges, C., Ciavarella, L., Tolsa, J.-F., Sandoz, V., & Horsch, A. (2024). Early mother-infant interactions within the context of childbirth-related posttraumatic stress symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 365, 24–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.08.025 4.9
    Devita, S., Deforges, C., Bickle-Graz, M., Tolsa, J.-F., Sandoz, V., & Horsch, A. (2023). Maternal childbirth-related posttraumatic stress symptoms, bonding, and infant development: A prospective study. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2023.2261057 2.1
    Awards and Honors Year
    Doctoral Research Grant (awarded by Société Académique Vaudoise) 2024
    Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship (fully funded scholarship awarded by Swiss Confederation) 2021 - 2024
    Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship (fully funded scholarship awarded by Hungarian government) 2018 - 2020