{"id":654,"date":"2025-05-21T16:04:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T16:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/msbrazelton.wpenginepowered.com\/?page_id=654"},"modified":"2026-06-02T18:58:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:58:23","slug":"beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/pt\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond Mental Health: Child Development in Evolutionary Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

Presented by Jay Belsky, Emeritus Professor Human Development<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This webinar was presented live on Wednesday January 4th, 2023 at 4pm US Eastern Time. The recording of the webinar is available <\/em>aqui<\/em><\/a> and Professor Belsky\u2019s slides are available <\/em>aqui<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By viewing human development principally from a mental-health perspective, we misconstrue it by failing to view it in evolutionary perspective. Most developmental theory, inquiry and practice presumes (too often) that there is something commonly referred to as \u201coptimal development.\u201d Consider in this regard Freud\u2019s claims about the capacity \u201cto love and to work\u201d, Maslow\u2019s self-actualization model, Erikson\u2019s 8-stages highlighting basic trust, identity, intimacy and generativity; and presumed sequelae of sensitive-supportive parenting, including attachment security, peer competence and capacity for intimacy. In light of this way of viewing so-called optimal development, it is no wonder that we view adversity as \u201cundermining\u201d or \u201ccompromising\u201d development. But from an evolutionary perspective, we need to appreciate and distinguish diverse developmental strategies<\/em>that serve the ultimate goal of ALL living things under varying contextual conditions: passing on genes to the next generation. In this talk I will illustrate the utility of an evolutionary perspective\u2014for leading to new developmental insight–by considering two current topics in developmental science whose origins are sometimes decades old, but remain underappreciated: (1) Accelerating effect of developmental adversity on biological aging and (2) Differential susceptibility to developmental experiences and environmental exposures. Along the way I will (a) explain why adversity accelerates biological aging (and it not just due to \u201cwear and tear\u201d on the developing organism) and why children vary in their susceptibility to environmental influences, as well as (b) present evidence consistent with these claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>
\n

Jay Belsky is Emeritus Professor Human Development at the University of California, Davis (2011-present), having stepped down from the Robert M. and Natalie Reid Dorn Professorship before retiring in 2022. He is the author of more than 500 scholarly articles and chapters, including serving as author\/editor of five books, most recently The Origins of You: How Childhood Shapes Later Life<\/em> published by Harvard University Press. Professor Belskyobtained his Ph.D. in 1978 in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University. Thereafter he served on the faculty at Penn State University and Birkbeck University of London. Professor Belsky is an internationally recognized expert in the field of child development and family studies. His areas of special expertise include effects of day care, parent-child relations and other developmental experiences and environmental exposures early in life on psychological and behavioral development, the transition to parenthood, the etiology of child maltreatment and the evolutionary basis of parent and child functioning. He was named among the 200 Eminent Psychologists of the Modern Era in 2014 (Archives of Scientific Psychology<\/em>); in 2015 he was listed among the top 100 \u201cGreatest Living Behavioral and Brain Scientists\u201d based on citation analysis;  in 2016\/17\/18 he was designated a \u201cHighly Cited Researcher\u201d by the Web of Science, being among the top 1% of scholars cited in the fields of psychiatry and psychology; and in 2019 among the top 0.01% of all scientists based on impact (PLoS Biology<\/em>, Ioannidis et al).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Presented by Jay Belsky, Emeritus Professor Human Development This webinar was presented live on Wednesday January 4th, 2023 at 4pm …Read More<\/b><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":14,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-full-width.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-654","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBeyond Mental Health: Child Development in Evolutionary Perspective - Brazelton Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/pt\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"pt_BR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beyond Mental Health: Child Development in Evolutionary Perspective - Brazelton Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Presented by Jay Belsky, Emeritus Professor Human Development This webinar was presented live on Wednesday January 4th, 2023 at 4pm ...Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/pt\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brazelton Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-02T18:58:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5e43928a61ed3520e5b79ab0\/029857cd-3da3-4849-953c-8fd445426e32\/headshot+belsky.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutos\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/nbi-community\\\/leaders-in-the-field\\\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/nbi-community\\\/leaders-in-the-field\\\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\\\/\",\"name\":\"Beyond Mental Health: Child Development in Evolutionary Perspective - Brazelton Institute\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/nbi-community\\\/leaders-in-the-field\\\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/nbi-community\\\/leaders-in-the-field\\\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\\\/content\\\/v1\\\/5e43928a61ed3520e5b79ab0\\\/029857cd-3da3-4849-953c-8fd445426e32\\\/headshot+belsky.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-21T16:04:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-02T18:58:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/nbi-community\\\/leaders-in-the-field\\\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"pt-BR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/nbi-community\\\/leaders-in-the-field\\\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"pt-BR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/nbi-community\\\/leaders-in-the-field\\\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\\\/content\\\/v1\\\/5e43928a61ed3520e5b79ab0\\\/029857cd-3da3-4849-953c-8fd445426e32\\\/headshot+belsky.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\\\/content\\\/v1\\\/5e43928a61ed3520e5b79ab0\\\/029857cd-3da3-4849-953c-8fd445426e32\\\/headshot+belsky.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/nbi-community\\\/leaders-in-the-field\\\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NBI Community\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/nbi-community\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Leaders in the Field\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/nbi-community\\\/leaders-in-the-field\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Beyond Mental Health: Child Development in Evolutionary Perspective\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Brazelton Institute\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"pt-BR\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Brazelton Institute\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"pt-BR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Brazelton_Institute_BCH_logo_Horz@2x.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Brazelton_Institute_BCH_logo_Horz@2x.png\",\"width\":865,\"height\":177,\"caption\":\"Brazelton Institute\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Beyond Mental Health: Child Development in Evolutionary Perspective - Brazelton Institute","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/pt\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\/","og_locale":"pt_BR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Beyond Mental Health: Child Development in Evolutionary Perspective - Brazelton Institute","og_description":"Presented by Jay Belsky, Emeritus Professor Human Development This webinar was presented live on Wednesday January 4th, 2023 at 4pm ...Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/pt\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\/","og_site_name":"Brazelton Institute","article_modified_time":"2026-06-02T18:58:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5e43928a61ed3520e5b79ab0\/029857cd-3da3-4849-953c-8fd445426e32\/headshot+belsky.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutos"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\/","url":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\/","name":"Beyond Mental Health: Child Development in Evolutionary Perspective - Brazelton Institute","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5e43928a61ed3520e5b79ab0\/029857cd-3da3-4849-953c-8fd445426e32\/headshot+belsky.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-21T16:04:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-02T18:58:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"pt-BR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"pt-BR","@id":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5e43928a61ed3520e5b79ab0\/029857cd-3da3-4849-953c-8fd445426e32\/headshot+belsky.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5e43928a61ed3520e5b79ab0\/029857cd-3da3-4849-953c-8fd445426e32\/headshot+belsky.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/beyond-mental-health-child-development-in-evolutionary-perspective\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NBI Community","item":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/nbi-community\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Leaders in the Field","item":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/nbi-community\/leaders-in-the-field\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Beyond Mental Health: Child Development in Evolutionary Perspective"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/","name":"Brazelton Institute","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"pt-BR"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/#organization","name":"Brazelton Institute","url":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"pt-BR","@id":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Brazelton_Institute_BCH_logo_Horz@2x.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Brazelton_Institute_BCH_logo_Horz@2x.png","width":865,"height":177,"caption":"Brazelton Institute"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/654\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brazeltoninstitute.childrenshospital.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}