First Tuesday 4/5/22: Sleep Health for Foster Care Children with Dr. Amy R. Wolfson

Sleep Health for Foster Care Children

Emerging research conducted by our and other research teams reveals high rates of sleep problems among children in foster care, yet science, education, practice, and policy have largely ignored sleep health in this vulnerable group. To address this gap, our overarching goal is to create a sleep health education program for foster-care parents and foster care agency personnel on the importance of sleep health for children exposed to early adversity, including strategies to support children and foster caregivers. In this session we (Dr. Amy Wolfson and Loyola seniors, Ms. Maddie Valentine & Ms. Josie Nogales Morales) will discuss sleep basics, sleep health strategies, and typical pediatric sleep problems; share results of our research; and plans for the development of our curriculum for the foster care community.

Amy R. Wolfson

Amy Wolfson, a clinical psychologist, has been a Professor of Psychology at Loyola University Maryland since 2014, after 22 years in the Psychology Department at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. She has been studying sleep, circadian rhythms in children and adolescents for over 30 years. Her scholarship largely focuses on developmental changes in sleep patterns over the course of childhood and adolescence and the implications for daytime functioning, including mood, academics, and substance use. Dr. Wolfson’s work has also examined preventive interventions for parents of young children and adolescents’ themselves and delaying school start times as countermeasure for improving adolescents’ sleep health. Most recently, her community-engaged scholarship has turned to sleep-health disparities, including social class, sleep health for youth residing in juvenile justice facilities, and foster care. Undoubtedly, Dr. Wolfson’s research to date provides her with a strong foundation for developing sleep health interventions for the foster care community.