Position Title
Professor; Robert M. and Natalie Reid Dorn Endowed Chair on Infancy
- Human Development & Family Studies
Research Interests
Mother-child relationships and physiological regulation; family stress/parenting stress and stress physiology; the transaction among family stress, family relationships, and stress physiology; lactation physiology
Diversity Statement
Issues surrounding diversity are central to my research, teaching, and outreach. My research attempts to fill important gaps in our understanding of adverse social and economic experiences on child and family well-being. In particular, I have studied underserved and understudied populations such as those in rural settings, families in poverty, African American families, Hispanic families, Jewish families, maltreated children, and families with shift working parents. I prioritize teaching about diverse experiences and introducing diverse perspectives in my courses. I have also been involved in campus wide initiatives to teach, model, and foster civil exchanges across different perspectives. Lastly, it is important to me that research informs policy and action. Therefore, I have connected with numerous local and regional agencies providing services to foster parents, foster youth, women and children in poverty, and maltreating parents. As part of my outreach I have written opinion pieces for the New York Times and Sacramento Bee speaking out against detaining migrant children, and an opinion piece encouraging universities to create a campus climate based on democratic ideals and civil discourse.
Current projects
Please see my lab webpage for information on my current projects.
Hibel, L. C., Teff-Seker, Y., Sigal*, M. (2025) Mental Health in Californian Jews Before and After October 7th, 2023. Psychological Trauma
Ontai, L., & Hibel, L. C., (2025) Multisystem Interconnected Lifestyle Framework: A holistic approach to examining the lifestyle determinants of child obesity. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.
Buhler-Wassmann*, A., & Hibel, L. C (2021) Studying Caregiver-infant Co-regulation in Dynamic, Diverse Cultural Contexts: A Call to Action. Infant Behavior and Development
Hibel, L. C, Boyer*, C, J., Buhler-Wassmann*, A., & Shaw**, B. (2021) The psychological and economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latina mothers in primarily low-income essential worker families. Traumatology.
Hibel, L. C., & Mercado, E.* (2017) Marital conflict predicts mother-to-infant adrenocortical transmission. Child Development. 90, e80-e95.