 Over
the last decade I have become an increasingly more active sleep and behavior
researcher. Yearly, my students and I present peer reviewed studies at
the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS) annual meeting, discuss
timely findings with physicians, students and community groups and relay
relevant information to the media. For the most part, my research is devoted
to understanding children, adolescents, and women's sleep/wake patterns
and to bridging gaps for sleep researchers and behavioral scientists. I
study the impact of external constraints and demands (e.g.,
school start times, family schedules, life transitions, employment) on
children/adolescents/women's sleep/wake patterns. I am bridging this gap
by conducting studies that look at both sleep and daytime functioning (e.g.,
mood, behavior), and by publishing and presenting my work to both sleep
researchers as well as to developmental and clinical psychologists.
One of my large-scale studies, Sleep
Schedules and Daytime Functioning in Adolescents was published
in Child Development inAugust 1998. It describes the
relationship between adolescents’ sleep/wake habits, characteristics of
students (age, sex, school), and daytime functioning (mood, school performance,
and behavior). Another recent study (Sleep,
21(8),
1998) highlights that certain adolescents experience a mismatch between
intrinsic biological processes and external demands. In other words, if
biological timing does not adjust to early school start time, adolescents
attend school when circadian phase and excessive sleepiness favor sleeping,
not learning. I am spending the current year (2001-'02) on
sabbatical as a visiting scholar at the Sleep
for Science Research Lab, affiliated with E. P. Bradley Hospital and
Brown University Medical School.
My latest questions focus on women’s sleep.
I have collaborated with Dr. Ursula Anwer at Memorial Hospital/University
of Massachusetts Medical School and several Holy Cross students. We investigated
the relationship between sleep/wake patterns and behavioral wellbeing of
first-time mothers from the last trimester of pregnancy through 12 months
postpartum. Moreover, my book, The Woman's
Book of Sleep was just published by New Harbinger Publications,
Inc. (Summer 2001). It is a must read for all women! |
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