Session 1: How do physiological and social environmental factors within the family influence parenting and early childhood behavior and development?

Although all phases of development are important, physiologically-linked parenting behavior and the family context after birth have immense immediate and long-term consequences for child development. Eye contact, touching, holding, feeding, talking, heightened arousal, and declines in risk behavior are linked to endocrine, genetic, and other physiological processes that interact with the contextual influences. These biosocial processes have evolutionary roots and are important for fathers as well as for mothers. In turn, the context of parenting, defined both by support and adversity, affects offspring self-regulation and ability to cope with stress and establish secure relationships.

Lead Speaker: Alison Fleming, University of Toronto at Mississauga

Discussants:

• Anne Storey, Memorial University at Newfoundland
• Susan Calkins, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
• Jay Belsky, Birkbeck University of London

Session 2: How do physiological and social environmental factors within the family influence development and adjustment in adolescence?

Adolescence is a period of dramatic transformation including biological, social, and cognitive changes. It is a period when youth gain autonomy and cultivate peer relationships. Many youth develop romantic relationships, and some become involved in risky and delinquent behavior. It is also a period of greater gender differentiation. Genetic factors, physiological processes, and shifts in social environmental influences are integral to understanding adolescent development.

Lead Speaker: Jenae Neiderhiser, Penn State

Discussants:

• S. Alexandra Burt, Michigan State University
• Sheri Berenbaum, Penn State
• Sally Powers, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Session 3: How do physiological and social environment factors in the developed world influence mate selection, family formation, and fertility?

In traditional foraging societies, onset of fecundability, initiation of sexual activity, and reproduction tended to co-occur within a few years. The total fertility rate of women was often substantial. These patterns stand in sharp contrast to those in contemporary developed countries, where physiological maturation occurs even earlier than in the past, but entry into stable unions and parenthood occur much later. This trend is dramatic in some developed countries, where delayed reproduction is coupled with below-replacement fertility. Women's opportunities in the work force, delayed marriage, effective birth control methods, and shifts in cultural values account for much of the recent fertility decline and delay. Women have many more reproductive options, leading some scholars to ask whether genetic influences on fertility-especially its timing-are greater than in the past. Other issues include the implications of fertility decline and delay for mate selection, family formation, and the processes underlying reproduction.

Lead Speaker: Steven Gangestad, University of New Mexico

Discussants:

• Brian D'Onofrio, Indiana University
• David Schmitt, Bradley University
• S. Philip Morgan, Duke University

Session 4: How do physiological and social factors influence family adaptations to resource disparities?

Social inequality influences parenting practices, the quality of family relationships, and the behavior, health and development of family members. Resource disparities also increase the chances of conflict and instability at the community level, which in turn elevate stress and further erode family well-being. Inequality exerts its effects, in part, through its impacts on physiological processes: Harsh environments lead to physiological and behavioral adaptations to stress that increase the chances of survival. For example, activation of the HPA axis provides for adaptive reactions to proximal stressors, though long term activation comes at a cost of poor health. In addition, early child rearing practices may be harsher among disadvantaged mothers, thereby disposing children to surviving in a challenging environment, but these harsh strategies may come at a cost. Parents also may adapt to challenging circumstances by channeling scarce resources to offspring with the best potential for success, but their differential investments may undermine the well-being of other offspring.

Lead Speaker: Guang Guo, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Discussants:

• Mark Flinn, University of Missouri
• Gary Evans, Cornell University
• Dalton Conley, New York University