Biobehavioral and Social-Emotional Development Lab

Our lab is working to better understand the systems and processes that promote psychosocial adaptation or contribute to the emergence of psychopathology across development. We are particularly interested in examining how early experiences (e.g., parent-child, sibling, and peer relationships) and individual differences in children’s self-regulation contribute to social and emotional development from infancy to early adolescence. Our research examines how these influences shape developmental trajectories across various domains of adaptive functioning, including social competence, prosocial and empathic behaviors, and school success, and maladaptive functioning, including aggression, callous-unemotional traits, and anxiety.

An overarching theme in our lab is the use of multiple methods for studying child development at experiential (e.g., self- and other-report methods), behavioral (e.g., observations, eye-tracking), and biological (e.g., autonomic and neuroendocrine regulatory systems) levels of influence.

 

 

Dr. Wagner will not be recruiting new graduate students for the Fall 2026 cohort.

The BASE Lab will soon be hiring a full-time Research Technician. Please contact us if you are interested in learning more, and stay tuned for the official post.