What is biobehavioral synchrony? Inspirational teaching, responsive parenting, and collaborative interactions with peers are critical for children’s learning. A common ingredient may underlie these successful social interactions: biobehavioral synchrony, defined as the inter-subject coupling of behavioral and neurobiological activity over time (Bell, 2020; Feldman, 2012). Synchrony may allow us to have shared representations and shared emotional states with others. In recent years research has moved towards studying “second-person” science, as exemplified by the examination of neural processes during real-time reciprocal social interaction (Redcay & Schilbach, 2019). There has also been an explosion of research on dual-person synchrony in behavior (Davis, Bilms, & Suveg, 2017), affect (Butler, 2015), or peripheral physiology such as hormones or cardiac electrophysiology (Feldman, 2007). This meta-analysis project summarizes and integrates the current literature on biobehavioral synchrony and children’s cognitive development.

The COVID-19 was a major and chronic stressor for children and families. Further, pandemic-related stay-at-home orders resulted in increased social isolation and loneliness among individuals who were already most vulnerable (Bu et al., 2020). The financial and social stressors resulting from the pandemic have particularly affected families with children. However, the availability of a responsive and consistent caregiver during the pandemic may act to buffer pandemic-related stress and promote more positive child outcomes. This study will leverage data collected pre- and post-pandemic onset to examine the impact of the pandemic on self-reported and physiological stress, and how the parent-child relationship may impact changes in child perceived stress and hair cortisol.

Current analyses have examined within-person changes in hair cortisol concentrations in children pre-pandemic compared to during the pandemic. The next steps will look into psychosocial effects of the pandemic (emotional, social, and cognitive impacts) and coping behaviors using self-report data in our sample.

Climate change, increasing prevalence of wildfires, and environmental justice efforts have drawn increased attention to the impact of air pollution on children’s health. Global climate change has led to worsening of overall air quality and episodes of high air pollution due to wildfires (Kan et al., 2012; Liu et al., 2016). Further, children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the effects of air pollution, as they have a higher intake of contaminants and greater lung surface area relative to their body weight compared to adults, and their brains and bodies are still developing (Salvi, 2007). The potential impacts of air pollution on children’s health are important to document for public health and policy implications. In this study, we examined associations between air pollution and children’s physiology, including peripheral inflammation and autonomic nervous system (ANS) physiology, as both have links to lifelong health outcomes.