The proposed K01 award will provide a 5-year training program to support Dr. Brown's career goal of becoming an independent researcher in the fields of child maltreatment, developmental science, and sleep. The K01 study will take place at Colorado State University where Dr. Brown will begin a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in August 2018. Dr. Brown will build on her skills in child maltreatment, stress physiology, and behavioral health by engaging in the following training goals: (1) develop skills in the acquisition, scoring, analysis, and interpretation of sleep and autonomic nervous system (ANS) data; (2) develop skills in parent- infant dyadic assessment and data analysis; (3) enhance expertise in translational research with families with neglect to inform the development of a child welfare intervention focused on sleep and ANS regulatory processes; and (4) engage in career development activities through grant writing, lab management, training in the responsible conduct of research, mentorship, and dissemination of research findings. Dr. Brown will receive training from Dr. LeBourgeois, an expert in early childhood and family sleep; Dr. Fifer, an expert in the assessment of infant sleep and ANS functions; Dr. Lunkenheimer, an expert in co-regulation in parents and children exposed to maltreatment; and Dr. Taussig, an expert in translational intervention research with child welfare-involved children and families. Dr. Brown will receive consultation from Dr. Garrison who will offer expertise on child and family sleep intervention development; and Dr. Sharp, who will advise on dyadic data analysis. Research Project: Early physiological and behavioral co-regulation between parent and infant supports healthy infant development and family functioning. In families with neglect, this co-regulation manifests as discordance in regulatory biomarkers between parent and infant physiology and behavior, thereby placing families at risk for maladaptive outcomes. Sleep is another core regulatory process that may be implicated in neglect and is pivotal to infant development and family functioning. Yet, current understanding of parent-infant co-regulation of sleep is limited and critical to inform potential future interventions for neglectful families. The goal of this study is to build on the extant research on physiological and behavioral co-regulation of parent-infant dyads and address the following aims: (1) to identify longitudinal patterns of parent-infant co- regulation of sleep and ANS processes in families with and without neglect; and (2) to determine the extent to which co-regulation of sleep and ANS processes can distinguish adaptive from maladaptive parent-infant outcomes in families with and without neglect. Study methods will involve a longitudinal design with self-report, physiological, and behavioral assessments of 90 parents and their infants aged 6-9 months with and without neglect. The proposed activities will have a significant impact by elucidating sleep as a novel process in the study of parent-infant co-regulation and our understanding of how sleep and autonomic regulatory processes transact over time in order to provide improved targets for intervention among high-risk parent-infant dyads.
The proposed research is relevant to public health in that it will advance the evidence base for the development and tailoring of intervention programs to address child neglect. Findings from this study will elucidate sleep as a novel process in the study of parent-infant co-regulation, and contribute to our understanding of how sleep and autonomic regulatory processes transact over time in families with neglect. This study will contribute to NICHD's mission because such an understanding will offer improved and more precise targets for intervention to promote healthy development and mitigate the adverse consequences of child neglect.
