Mona El-Sheikh

Mona El-Sheikh

  • Leonard Peterson and Co., Inc. Professor in HDFS
334-844-3294
elshemm@auburn.edu
381 Mell Street (M. White Smith Hall, Room 110)
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Child Sleep, Health, and Development Lab
Accepting new graduate students: No
Accepting new undergraduate students: No

 

Mona El-Sheikh, Ph.D., is the Leonard Peterson & Co., Inc. Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at Auburn University. Her research examines how children and adolescents develop in the context of family stress and socioeconomic and racial/ethnic adversity, and why some youth fare well under these conditions while others struggle. Sleep and autonomic nervous system activity are central to this work. Utilizing objective, multi-night actigraphy and measures of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity, her lab examines the role of these bioregulatory systems in youths' mental health, physical health, cognitive functioning and academic achievement. Her longitudinal studies have followed children from socioeconomically and racially diverse families in small towns and rural communities of the southeastern United States from middle childhood into emerging adulthood.

This work has been funded for three decades by the National Institutes of Health (NHLBI, NICHD, NIAAA and NIMHD) and the National Science Foundation. Dr. El-Sheikh is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 7, 38 and 53) and has served on the NIH Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board. She has mentored many doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows who now lead research programs at universities across the country.       

Education

  • Ph.D. (Psychology)West Virginia University1989

  • M. A. (Psychology)West Virginia University1988

  • B. A. (Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology)The American Univeristy, Cairo, Egypt1984

Professional Experience

2010-present: Leonard Peterson & Co., Inc., Professor
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University

2005-2010: Alumni Professor
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University

2002-2005: Professor
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University

2000-2001: Associate Professor (tenured)
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University

1995- 2000: Associate Professor (tenured)
Department of Psychology, Auburn University

1990-1995: Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology, Auburn University

Innovation

Findings from the lab suggest that sleep and autonomic nervous system activity may function as protective or vulnerability factors for youth facing adversity (e.g., interparental conflict, harsh parenting, economic hardship and discrimination). In particular, the lab has identified more optimal sleep (e.g., sufficient duration, better quality, more regular schedules) as a protective factor, such that associations between adversity and youths' adjustment, health and academic functioning are weaker when sleep is more optimal. Likewise, patterns of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity (e.g., vagal regulation) may protect children from, or increase their vulnerability to, the effects of family stress.

This protective role is also evident in research on socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities. For youth from lower-income families and youth who experience discrimination, more optimal sleep has been associated with better adjustment and cognitive and academic functioning, suggesting that sleep may be one avenue for reducing disparities in development. Sleep may also serve as a pathway through which economic adversity and discrimination are linked to youths' adjustment. The lab has also characterized developmental trajectories of sleep and autonomic nervous system activity from childhood into emerging adulthood, and has examined how these trajectories relate to youths' adjustment and health. This work is conducted in collaboration with colleagues in psychology, family science, psychophysiology, pediatric sleep medicine and public health. Given the modifiable nature of sleep, findings may inform prevention and intervention efforts to promote youths' well-being and reduce disparities.

Current Funding:

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
R01-HL136752-05
El-Sheikh, M. (PI)
Sleep as a Mechanism and Moderator in the Development of Health Trajectories
02/25/2023-01/31/2028

Engagement

Member:

  • American Academy of Sleep Medicine

  • American Psychological Association

  • Society for Research in Adolescence

  • Society for Research in Child Development

  • Sleep Research Society

Accomplishments, Awards, and Honors

2023 Fellow, American Psychological Association, Division 38 (Health Psychology)

2022 Fellow, American Psychological Association, Division 53 (Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology)

2021, 2018 Nominated by Auburn University for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Faculty Achievement Award. One faculty member from AU is nominated each year.

2019 Fellow, American Psychological Association, Division 7 (Developmental Psychology)

2018 Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) Distinguished Scientist Award

2021 Distinguished Scientist Award. One faculty member from the University is nominated each year.

2015 - 2018 Member, the National Institutes of Health, Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board.

2017 Research Advisory Board Advancement of Research and Scholarship Award, Auburn University. An annual award given to one faculty member at AU.

2008 Faculty Award for Excellence, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University

2007 Creative Research and Scholarship Award, Auburn University

2005 Alumni Professor, Auburn University

Selected Manuscripts

Thompson, M. J., Ehrhardt, A. D., Kelly, R. J., & El-Sheikh, M. (2026). Adding fuel to the fire: How childhood and adolescent histories of interparental conflict amplify sleep problems during the transition to emerging adulthood. Child Development, 97, 1203-1216.  https://doi.org/10.1093/chidev/aacag073  

Thompson, M. J., Altinoz, Z. S., Hinnant, J. B., Erath, S. A., Buckhalt, J. A., & El-Sheikh, M. (2026). Sleeping through the ages: Developmental trajectories of

actigraphy-derived sleep-wake patterns across adolescence and emerging adulthood. Developmental  Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0002170.  

Fuller-Rowell, T. E., Zeringue, M. M., Saini, E. K., Sultana, S., & El-Sheikh, M. (2025). Changes in actigraphy-assessed sleep from childhood to adolescence: The role of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage. Sleep Health, 11, 431-438.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2025.04.002

Kelly, R. J., Thompson, M. J., & El-Sheikh, M. (2025). Harsh parenting in adolescence and symptoms of depression in emerging adulthood: The moderating role of sleep. Sleep Health, 11(6), 781-790.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2025.07.010

Thompson, M. J., Gillis, B. T., Hinnant, J. B., Erath, S. A., Buckhalt, J. A., & El-Sheikh, M. (2024). Trajectories of actigraphy-derived sleep duration, quality, and variability from childhood to adolescence: Downstream effects on mental health. Sleep, 47(8), zsae112. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsae112

Fuller-Rowell, T., Saini, E., K., & El-Sheikh, M. (2023). Social class discrimination during adolescence as a mediator of socioeconomic disparities in actigraphy-assessed and self-reported sleep. Sleep Medicine, 108, 61-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2023.05.021

El-Sheikh, M., Gillis, B. T, Saini, E., Erath, S., A. & Buckhalt, J. A. (2022). Sleep and disparities in child and adolescent development. Child Development Perspectives, 16, 200-207. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12465

El-Sheikh, M., Zeringue, M. M., Saini, E. K., Fuller-Rowell, T. E., & Yip, T. (2022). Discrimination and adjustment in adolescence: The moderating role of sleep. Sleep, 45, zsab215. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsab215