Emma Adam is a developmental psychologist with an interest in applying theory and research from developmental psychology to understanding and informing social policies for children and families. She has expertise in attachment theory and the developmental psychobiology of stress. Adam is interested in the contributions of workplace, school, family and individual factors to physiological stress in families, and the implications of stress for parent well-being and for child and adolescent behavioral, cognitive and emotional development.  Recent work also examines social influences on sleep in children and adolescents, and the implications of variations in sleep timing and quality for health and development. Her current research projects examine the role of stress, stress hormones and sleep in the development of mood and anxiety disorders in adolescents and young adults; racial/ethnic disparities in stress and the impact of perceived discrimination on stress hormones, sleep and health; the impact of early adverse relationship experiences on biological stress and health in young adults.

In addition to her Northwestern University affiliations, she is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Society for Research in Child Development, the Society for the Study of Human Development, the Society for Research on Adolescence, and the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology. She is the recipient of a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowship (2003–04) and a William T. Grant Scholars Award (2004–09).