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New Research Shows Preschoolers’ Nervous Systems Respond Differently to Teachers than to Peers
April 10, 2026
A new study co-authored by Associate Professor of Psychology Steven Holochwost, “Associations between social engagement and parasympathetic activity in the early childhood education classroom,” adds to a small but growing body of research showing the important role early childhood educators play in children’s physical stress responses and development.
Holochwost and his colleagues tracked children’s heart rate patterns during five pre-school classroom sessions and compared how those patterns changed during interactions with teachers and peers. They found that when children had more positive interactions with teachers, activity increased in the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps the body stay calm and manage stress, suggesting a state of calm engagement. When children had more positive interactions with peers, however, that activity decreased.
“Although it may seem contradictory that an increase in activity would accompany positive teacher interactions and a decrease would accompany positive peer interactions, these findings make sense when we consider the relative challenges posed by these scenarios,” said Holochwost. “A teacher who is interacting positively with a child is a supportive and predictable social partner. By comparison, it is much more challenging to maintain positive social interaction with an emotionally unpredictable fellow preschooler.”
The findings underscore the vital role of early childhood classrooms—and especially teachers—in shaping how young children learn to engage with and respond to the people around them.
Holochwost and his team are the first to publish research based on physiological data gathered in early childhood learning environments. These methods are included in a forthcoming developmental psychology textbook he co-authored, Conducting Applied Developmental Science in Diverse Contexts, which will be released this July by Oxford University Press.