Prenatal sleep and emotions linked to toddler attention and behavior
Identifying risk earlier: Prenatal exposures, neurodevelopment, and infant sleep as pathways to toddler attention and behavior dysregulation
This project looks at whether parents' sleep patterns and emotional stress during pregnancy relate to newborn attention, infant sleep, and toddlers' attention and behavior problems.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Oregon NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Eugene, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11139432 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will track parents' sleep and emotional health during pregnancy and measure newborn attention and arousal within hours after birth. You and your partner would wear sleep trackers and your baby would be monitored with actigraphy and research-validated consumer devices during repeated home-based periods. The team will follow infants through the first year (with outcomes examined at 12–18 months) to see whether early sleep problems connect newborn neurodevelopmental patterns to toddler attention and behavior dysregulation. The study combines brief lab newborn assessments with ongoing home sleep monitoring to map early pathways to behavior challenges.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are pregnant people (second or third trimester), their partners, and their newborns who can use wearable sleep monitors and attend follow-up assessments through infancy.
Not a fit: People who are not pregnant, do not have an infant, or cannot commit to wearable sleep tracking or follow-up visits are unlikely to benefit directly.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify early warning signs and family-based sleep targets to help prevent or reduce toddler attention and behavior problems.
How similar studies have performed: Pilot data from these investigators link maternal emotional dysregulation to newborn arousal and later behavior issues, but treating sleep variability as the connecting pathway is a relatively new approach.
Where this research is happening
Eugene, United States
- University of Oregon — Eugene, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Crowell, Sheila E. — University of Oregon
- Study coordinator: Crowell, Sheila E.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.