University of Oregon · PsychologyCrowell Development Lab
Sheila E. Crowell · Eugene, Oregon
Research Focus
Dr. Sheila E. Crowell's lab at the University of Oregon focuses on understanding how prenatal experiences and early life factors influence child behavior and development. The research investigates the links between maternal emotional health, infant sleep patterns, and the emergence of attention and behavioral regulation issues in toddlers. By exploring these connections, the lab aims to identify early risk factors for psychological disorders in children and develop interventions to improve both infant and caregiver well-being.
prenatal exposuresneurodevelopmentinfant sleepbehavior dysregulationmaternal emotion dysregulationlongitudinal studypsychopathologyearly intervention
Research Aims
5AIM 01Test if prenatal maternal emotion dysregulation predicts infant neurodevelopment outcomes.
AIM 02Explore how infant neurodevelopment interacts with sleep structure to influence sleep variability.
AIM 03Investigate if high variability in infant sleep trajectories predicts attention and behavioral issues in toddlers.
AIM 04Assess the role of both maternal and partner influence on infant sleep and development.
AIM 05Identify modifiable factors in infant and family sleep that could reduce early psychopathology risk.
Skills the Lab Values
actigraphylongitudinal study designdata collection and analysisinfant behavior assessmentmaternal health surveyssleep variability measurementstatistical power techniqueschild development observationfamily dynamics assessment
Output against the department
Publications208top 32% of dept.95th of 296
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations7.5ktop 41% of dept.121st of 296
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.