Hawley Montgomery-Downs, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology

Organization:

West Virginia University School of Medicine

Department:

Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (SOM)

Classification:

Faculty

• PhD, Developmental Psychology, University of Connecticut

[2017]

• Alamir YA, Zullig KJ, Wen S, Montgomery-Downs HE, Kristjansson AL, Misra R, Zhang J (2017). Association between nonmedical use of prescription drugs and sleep quality in a large college student sample. Behav Sleep Med, Nov 13:1-11. [Epub ahead of print]
• LeBourgeois MK, Hale L, Chang AM, Akacem LD, Montgomery-Downs HE, Buxton OM (2017). Digital media and sleep in childhood and adolescence. Pediatrics, 140(Suppl 2):S92-S96. PMCID: PMC5658795

[2016]

• McBean AL, Kinsey SG, Montgomery-Downs HE (2016).Effects of a single night of postpartum sleep on childless women's daytime functioning. Physiol Behav, 156: 137-47. PMCID: PMC5719495

[2015]

• McBean AL,  Montgomery-Downs HE (2015). What are postpartum women doing while the rest of the world is asleep? J Sleep Res, 24:270-280.
• McBean AL,  Montgomery-Downs HE (2015).  Diurnal fatigue patterns, sleep timing, and mental health outcomes among healthy postpartum women.  Biol Res Nurs, 17:29-39.
• Meltzer LJ, Hiruma LS, Avis K,  Montgomery-Downs H, Valentin J (2015).  Comparison of a commercial accelerometer with polysonography and actigraphy in children and adolescents. Sleep, 38:1323-1330. PMCID: PMC4507738

[2014]

• Insana SP, Foley KP, Montgomery-Downs HE, Kolko DJ, McNeil CB. Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence Demonstrate Disturbed Sleep and Impaired Functional Outcomes. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy
• Insana SP, Garfield CF, Montgomery-Downs HE (2014). A mixed-method examination of maternal and paternal nocturnal caregiving. J Pediatr Health Care,28:313-321. PMCID: PMC3939069
• Thomas RJ, Mietus JE, Peng CK, Guo D, Gozal D,Montgomery-Downs H, Gottlieb DJ, Wang CY, Goldberger AL (2014). Relationship between delta power and the electrocardiogram-derived cardiopulmonary (CPC) spectrogram: Possible implications for assessing the “effectiveness” of sleep . Sleep Med,15:125-131. PMCID: PMC4114218

Dr. Montgomery-Downs joined the faculty at West Virginia University in 2005 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2011. She served as the coordinator for the Behavioral Neuroscience PhD training program from 2008-2014. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics, a member of the Behavioral Neuroscience Group at the WVU Center for Neuroscience, and a preceptor on an NIH training grant (T32) for Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences.

She is also the owner of Sleep Matters LLC, an independent sleep device and product testing company.

Dr. Montgomery-Downs earned her B.A. in Experimental Psychology from Humboldt State University in 1994 and her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychobiology in 2001 under the mentorship of Evelyn Thoman, Ph.D. in the Biobehavioral Sciences Graduate Degree Program at the University of Connecticut. Her postdoctoral fellowship in Pediatric Sleep Medicine at the University of Louisville under the mentorship of David Gozal, M.D. was funded through a National Research Service Award (F32HL07459) and Loan Repayment Program in Pediatric Research from the National Institutes of Health (NHLBI).

Personal Site: http://hawley_montgomery-downs.psychology.wvu.edu/

Note to potential graduate students: Dr. Montgomery-Downs will be accepting applications for Fall 2016 admission to the Ph.D. program in Psychology. She is not a member of a specific program area but instead trains interdisciplinary students following a customized plan of study. Contact Dr. Montgomery-Downs with questions or to let her know that you will be applying.

See more at: http://hawley_montgomery-downs.psychology.wvu.edu/#sthash.1bfmHS1w.dpuf

Research Areas

 Postpartum Sleep Disturbance: Impact on Maternal Daytime Functioning and Recovery

(Funded by National Institutes of Health Grant R21HD053836)

This study explores the effects of sleep disruption on new parents. Begun 7 years, ago many of the findings from this work are included on our publications page, with links to reprints. Data collection for this project is completed now, but data analyses are ongoing. Pending funding will support investigation into the long-term recovery trajectory and factors that promote this.

Effects of infant feeding methods on development of child sleep-disordered breathing

Previous work shows a dose-response effect of breastfeeding duration – longer infant breastfeeding is associated with reduced severity of childhood sleep-disordered breathing. Current studies, and pending funding, investigate the mechanism behind this effect, with a focus on ultimate prevention of development of pediatric sleep-disordered breathing.

Psychology

Dr. Montgomery-Downs conducts research on sleep and sleep disorders and directs the Sleep Research Laboratory. Her current research focus is on the effects of infant feeding methods on development of pediatric sleep-disordered breathing, the impact of postpartum sleep deprivation and fragmentation on maternal functioning, and the long-term maternal recovery from early postpartum sleep disturbance.

Research Topics 

• Pediatric Sleep-Disordered Breathing
• Sleep and Development
• Postpartum Sleep Disturbance
• Sleep Methodology