Dr. Nick Wagner

Biography

Nicholas Wagner is an Associate Professor in the Psychological & Brain Sciences department at Boston University, where he also serves as the Director of the Developmental Science Program. His research focuses on the enduring impact of early experiences and relationships, such as parent-child and sibling relationships, on children’s social-emotional development. He is particularly interested in the psychobiological and environmental factors that promote psychosocial adaptation and contribute to the emergence of psychopathology. A key aspect of his work is elucidating young children's self-regulatory capacities and the influence of early experiences on parents' emotional, cognitive, and social development. His ongoing research examines early experiential and biological processes that contribute to behavioral and emotional problems, with a specific focus on callous-unemotional traits. Additionally, his research broadens to include anxiety, behavioral inhibition, and social withdrawal, and emphasizes the influence of social environments, such as peer relationships and school contexts, on patterns of biobehavioral adaptation and the emergence of externalizing and internalizing psychopathology.

Research Interests