Nick Wagner

Assistant Professor, College of Arts & Sciences

Nick Wagner is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences at Boston University, and a faculty affiliate of the Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science. Prior to joining BU, he was a research professor in Human Development and Quantitative Studies at the University of Maryland. His research examines the processes through which biological and environmental factors promote psychosocial adaptation or contribute to the emergence of psychopathology. One line of ongoing research examines early experiential and biological processes that contribute to later behavioral and emotional problems, with a specific focus on callous-unemotional traits.

A second line of research broadens these efforts to include anxiety, behavioral inhibition, and social withdrawal. Cutting across the entirety of this program of research is an appreciation for the influence of family relationships and the social environment (e.g., peer relationships, school contexts) on patterns of adaptation and maladaptation. The driving aim of his program of research is to produce translatable knowledge to inform the creation and evaluation of methods for supporting children’s healthy emotional and behavioral development, as well as for preventing and ameliorating psychopathology.

Professor Wagner’s research has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Child Health and Development, and the National Science Foundation. He has received early career awards from the Society for Research in Child Development and the International Society for Research on Aggression, and the “Rising Star Award” from the Association for Psychological Science.