Welcome!
As parents and teachers we try to shield children from overwhelming stress; however, we also want children to learn how to manage the normal stresses and challenges of life. Life is full of stresses of different types. In some ways stress is good. A life without any stress would certainly be boring. But we also know that stress contributes to poor health, emotional problems, and early death. Some people manage stress better than others. These people deal with major life stresses well (losing a job, death of loved one) and they also manage the daily hassles of life without becoming worn out, sick, or depressed.
Many researchers believe that the seeds of our ability to manage stress as adult are sown in childhood through the interaction of our genes with our experiences. In our research we try to understand how the experiences of childhood affect children of different emotional temperaments and how the combination of temperament and experience shapes a child's ability to manage stress as she or he grows up. In the Gunnar Laboratory we are particularly interested in the physiological side of stress. Stress physiology consists primarily of the response of two systems: the sympatho-adrenal system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system. Both of these systems help our bodies to manage challenge. We measure the sympatho-adrenal system by examining changes in heart rate, and we measure the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system by taking samples of saliva. Thus, we are jokingly referred to as the "Spit Lab."
The studies you will read about, in the Research section of our website, are all a part of our "big picture" question. We have also placed downloadable version of past newsletters as well as a list of academic publications in the Publication section of our website if you are interested in learning more about our work. Lastly, we have assembled some information regarding Cortisol Collection for both parents, who are participating in one of our studies, and researchers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions about our research or our lab.