Märta's research concerns risk and desistance factors for persistent aggressive antisocial behaviors, evidence-based practice in forensic settings, forensic neuroscience, and development and evaluation of assessment and treatment methods in forensic and psychiatric settings. Her emphasis is on applied research that may provide knowledge needed for the prevention, assesment and treatment of mental disorders and aggressive antisocial behaviors.

Märta is PI of a large research programme, FORevidence, funded by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare. FORevidence seeks to provide a basis for the development of evidence-based practice in Swedish forensic psychiatry through pursuing four main aims: 1) Determine important areas for intervention, 2) Clarify preconditions for, importance and implications of user involvement, 3) Develop, adapt and evaluate treatment methods for forensic psychiatry, and 4) Initiate a national platform for transdisciplinary forensic psychiatric research in Sweden. FORevidence is built on transdisciplinary, national and international collaborations, and operates through 10 sub projects with eight project PIs.

Märta is also PI of a project on a cohort of forensic psychiatric patients from a large, high security hospital, investigating self-directed and overt aggression in forensic psychiatric patients (PhD student Natalie Laporte). She is also PI of a project on neurophysiological markers for overt aggression and externalizing behaviors and disorders (PhD student Carl Delfin), a project on diagnostic stability in forensic psychiatric patients, a project on collaborative violence risk management (PhD student Johan Berlin) and a project on development and evaluation of assessment and treatment methods using Virtual Reality in forensic settings (PhD student Fernando Gonzalez Moraga, Post doc Kristina Sygel).

As collaborating researcher, Märta is involved in a large multicenter study, the Development of Aggressive Antisocial Behavior Study (DAABS), which studies the development of persistent aggressive antisocial behaviors over the lifetime and the development of mental illness in offenders. Märta is also involved in research on person-centered care in forensic psychiatry (PI Ulrica Hörberg & Mikael Rask), women in forensic psychiatry (PI Mikael Rask & Ulrica Hörberg), assessment and treatment of substance use disorders in forensic psychiatry (PI Malin Hildebrand Karlén), disinhibition and alcohol use (PI Malin Björnsdotter Åberg) and evaluation of Dialectical Behavior Therapy for individuals with cognitive deficits and challenging behaviors (PI Sofie Westling).  

Märta is dedicated to make research available for patients, their loved-ones, clinicians, and the general society.

Märta has vast clinical experience from work as clinical psychologist within correctional facilities and forensic psychiatry in Sweden. She has mostly worked with persons with severe and persistent aggressive antisocial behavior, often with severe mental health comorbidity and social dysfunction. In her clinical work, she has always been active in method development, e.g., development of a method that combines violence risk screening with structured violence risk management. She has also implemented structured risk management within the forensic psychiatric facilities in Region Skåne and Region Kronoberg, Sweden. Märta continues to work with translations, e.g., a manual for assessment of protective factors for violence risk, SAPROF, the self-report questionnarie Externalizing Spectrum Inventory - Brief Form, and the treatment manual Virtual Reality Aggression Prevention Training.

Märta lectures on mental health, aggressive antisocial behavior (including violence and criminality), and prevention of these global health challenges. She has recurring lectures for the police, academic educations, mental health care personnel, social services personnel, and school personnel.