News Release

Presentation to focus on infant sleep disturbances

August 25, 2008

Infant sleep disturbances, such as chronic waking and crying, affect more than 25 percent of families with an infant aged less than two years.

A presentation Monday, Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. in the Olmsted Auditorium by Dr. Neville Blampied of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand will define infant sleep disturbance (ISD) and briefly review its epidemiology.

Dr. Blampied’s discussion will be followed by a presentation by Penn State Harrisburg Professor of Psychology Richard Foxx in which he will present a bio-behavioral model of the development and maintenance of ISD and review treatment research, covering the search for effective treatments that minimize infant distress, are acceptable to parents, and are positive in their impact.

Dr. Blampied is an associate professor of psychology and head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Canterbury. He has been the co-principal investigator in the Canterbury Sleep Project, a long-running investigation of infant sleep disturbance.