Early life attachment, stress, and caregiving as predictors of adult health
Tue, November 10, 2026, at 11am
Jeffry Simpson
Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology
University of Minnesota
Event to be held via Zoom.
How much do the experiences of our earliest years shape who we become — and even our physical health — decades later?
For more than 50 years, University of Minnesota researchers have been exploring that question through the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation, also known as the Parent Child Project. Begun in 1975, this remarkable study has followed participants across the course of their lives, providing a rare opportunity to understand how early experiences, relationships, stress, and social support may influence development and well-being from childhood through adulthood.
What can following the same individuals for half a century teach us about how our earliest experiences become part of our adult lives? And what might these findings tell us about the importance of caregiving and social support across generations?
In this UMRA Living Well Workshop, Professor Jeffry Simpson, PhD, will draw on findings from the study to explore the connections between our earliest relationships and our health later in life. He will discuss research examining how attachment to caregivers, the quality of early care, and exposure to stressful life experiences can predict both self-reported health and biological measures of health many years later.
The research also tells a larger story about human development, about risk and resilience, the importance of supportive relationships, and the ways people can both change and remain remarkably consistent over a lifetime.
Simpson is Distinguished University Teaching Professor and chair of the UMN Department of Psychology; currently co-editor-in-chief of Current Opinion in Psychology, a past member of the National Institute of Aging Special Emphasis Panel, and a past president of the International Association for Relationship Research.
Please register and join us via Zoom for this webinar at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, November 10. Registrations will be accepted up to and including the day of the webinar. If you have questions, contact the reservationist.
—Nanette Hanks, UMRA president-elect and Program Committee chair
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How much do the experiences of our earliest years shape who we become — and even our physical health — decades later? For more than 50 years, University of Minnesota researchers have been exploring that question through the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation. In this UMRA Living Well Workshop, Professor Jeffry Simpson, PhD, will draw on findings from the study to explore the connections between our earliest relationships and our health later in life.
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