Associate Professor
Department of Population & Quantitative Health Sciences
Associate Professor
Department of Pediatrics
School of Medicine
Program Director
Department of Educational Programs in Clinical Research
School of Medicine
Co-Director of PhD in Clinical Translational Science
Center for Clinical Investigation
School of Medicine
Dr. James Spilsbury is an anthropologist who studies how children’s socio-cultural environment influences their health and well-being. His research is focused on both family settings and neighborhoods as key “ecologies” affecting children’s physical and psychological health and functioning, with a substantial focus on sleep and its impact on children’s behavior. He has also researched how violence in these environments influences child development. His research requires a multi-disciplinary approach, requiring expertise in multiple disciplines such an anthropology, psychology, pediatrics, social work, statistics, engineering, and public health. Dr. Spilsbury has developed effective collaborative relationships with scientists across academe as well as community-based agencies and organizations.
Teaching Information
Courses Taught
CRSP 412 Communication in Clinical Research I – Grant Writing
CRSP 413 Communication in Clinical Research II – Oral Presentations, Posters, and the Mass Media
CRSP 505 Investigating Social Determinants of Health
Translational and Patient-Oriented Research Theory
Special Topics in Clinical Research
Seminar Multidisciplinary Clinical and Translational Research
Research Information
Research Interests
- Sleep in social and cultural context
- Effects of violence on children's health and well-being
- Effects of neighborhoods and child health and development
Professional Memberships
The Sleep Research Society
Sleep in America Poll Taskforce
Government of Canada, Social Sciences and Humanities Research, Insights grant reviewer
Israel Science Foundation, grant reviewer
William T. Grant Foundation, grant reviewer
Publications
Selected Publications
- Gharib, SA, Hurley, AL, Rosen, MJ, Spilsbury, JC, Schell, AE, Mehra, R, Patel, SR. Obstructive sleep apnea and cpap therapy alter distinct transcriptional programs in subcutaneous fat tissue. Sleep 2019; : . PubMed PMID:31872261 .
- Gross-Manos, D, Haas, BM, Richter, F, Korbin, JE, Coulton, CJ, Crampton, D, Spilsbury, JC. Why Does Child Maltreatment Occur? Caregiver Perspectives and Analyses of Neighborhood Structural Factors Across Twenty Years. Child Youth Serv Rev 2019; 99 : 138-145. PubMed PMID:31371843 PubMed Central PMC6674984.
- Spilsbury, JC, Nadan, Y, Kaye-Tzadok, A, Korbin, JE, Jespersen, BV, Allen, BJ. Caregivers' Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Child Maltreatment: A Pilot Case Study in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Cleveland, USA. Int J Child Maltreat 2018; 1 (1): 19-40. PubMed PMID:31286112 PubMed Central PMC6613203.
- Haas, BM, Berg, KA, Schmidt-Sane, MM, Korbin, JE, Spilsbury, JC. How might neighborhood built environment influence child maltreatment? Caregiver perceptions. Soc Sci Med 2018; 214 : 171-178. PubMed PMID:30177363 PubMed Central PMC6207936.
- Coulton, CJ, Richter, FG, Korbin, J, Crampton, D, Spilsbury, JC. Understanding trends in neighborhood child maltreatment rates: A three-wave panel study 1990-2010. Child Abuse Negl 2018; 84 : 170-181. PubMed PMID:30103090 PubMed Central PMC6667187.
- Gross-Manos, D, Haas, BM, Richter, F, Crampton, D, Korbin, JE, Coulton, CJ, Spilsbury, JC. Two sides of the same neighborhood? Multilevel analysis of residents' and child-welfare workers' perspectives on neighborhood social disorder and collective efficacy. Am J Orthopsychiatry 2019; 89 (6): 682-692. PubMed PMID:30035561 PubMed Central PMC6344332.
- Spilsbury, JC, Gross-Manos, D, Haas, BM, Bowdrie, K, Richter, F, Korbin, JE, Crampton, DS, Coulton, CJ. Change and consistency in descriptions of child maltreatment: A comparison of caregivers' perspectives 20 years apart. Child Abuse Negl 2018; 82 : 72-82. PubMed PMID:29870865 PubMed Central PMC6589824.
- Spilsbury, JC, Patel, SR, Morris, N, Ehayaei, A, Intille, SS. Household chaos and sleep-disturbing behavior of family members: results of a pilot study of African American early adolescents. Sleep Health 2017; 3 (2): 84-89. PubMed PMID:28346162 PubMed Central PMC5373486.
- Puri, P, Ross, KR, Mehra, R, Spilsbury, JC, Li, H, Levers-Landis, CE, Rosen, CL. Pediatric Positive Airway Pressure Adherence in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Enhanced by Family Member Positive Airway Pressure Usage. J Clin Sleep Med 2016; 12 (7): 959-63. PubMed PMID:27092699 PubMed Central PMC4918996.
- Buxton, OM, Chang, AM, Spilsbury, JC, Bos, T, Emsellem, H, Knutson, KL. Sleep in the modern family: protective family routines for child and adolescent sleep. Sleep Health 2015; 1 (1): 15-27. PubMed PMID:26779564 PubMed Central PMC4712736.
- Spilsbury JC. Sleep As Mediator in the Pathway From Violence-Induced Traumatic Stress to Poorer Health and Functioning: A Review of the Literature and Proposed Conceptual Model. Behav Sleep Med. 2009;7:223-244.
- Spilsbury JC, Korbin, JE, Coulton CJ. Mapping Children’s Neighborhood Perceptions: Implications for Child Indicators. Child Indicators Res. 2009;2:111-131.
- Spilsbury JC, Kahana S, Drotar D, Creeden R, Flannery DJ, Friedman S. Profiles of Behavioral Problems in Children Who Witness Domestic Violence. Viol Vict. 2008;23: 3-17.
- Spilsbury JC, Drotar D, Rosen CL, Redline S. The Cleveland Adolescent Sleepiness Questionnaire: A new measure to assess excessive daytime sleepiness in adolescents. J Clin Sleep Med. 2007;3:603-612.
- Coulton CJ, Crampton DS, Irwin M, Spilsbury JC, Korbin JE. How neighborhoods influence child maltreatment: a review of the literature and alternative pathways. Child Abuse Negl. 2007;31: 1117-1142.
- Spilsbury JC, Storfer-Isser A, Kirchner HL, Nelson L, Rosen CL, Drotar D, Redline S. Neighborhood disadvantage as a risk factor for pediatric obstructive sleep apnea. J Pediatr. 2006;149: 342-347.
- Spilsbury J. Children’s Perceptions of the Social Supports of Neighborhood Institutions and Establishments. Human Org. 2005;64: 126-134.
- Spilsbury J. “We don’t really get to go out in the front yard” - Children’s home range and neighborhood violence. Children’s Geograph. 2005;3:79-99.
- Spilsbury J, Storfer-Isser A, Drotar D, Rosen C, Kirchner HL, Redline S. Effects of the Home Environment on School-Aged Children’s Sleep. Sleep 2005;28:1419-1427.
- Spilsbury J, Storfer-Isser A, Drotar D, Rosen C, Kirchner HL, Redline S. Sleep behavior in an urban US sample of school-aged children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2004;158:988-994.
- Spilsbury J. “If I don’t know them, I’ll get killed probably”: how children’s concerns about safety shape helpseeking behavior. Childhood 2002;9:101-117.
Publishing impact
Metrics from Web of Science/publons and Scopus/SciVal:
- H-index: 18
- Total publications from CV: 40
- Total citations: 1,011
- Publications in top-tier journals: 37%
- Collaborative publishing national/international: 90%/10%
Editorial roles:
- Behavioral Sleep Medicine, editorial board
- Sleep Health, editorial board
Education
Doctor of Philosophy
Anthropology
Case Western Reserve University
2002
MPH
Health Education
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
1985
B.S.
Biology
Yale University
1981
Additional Information
View James Spilsbury 2018 Curriculum Vitae
Contributions to science:
- Understanding the neighborhood and family ecology of children’s sleep
- The neighborhood ecology of child maltreatment
- Effects of violence on children
- Children as full-fledged social agents who negotiate their neighborhood environments
Active grants:
- US Department of Justice, Office of Victims Programs: The traumatic loss response team: a multidisciplinary approach to complex homicides involving children
- NICHD, R01: Understanding how neighborhood ecologies influence child maltreatment: a mixed methods study
Student and mentee totals, over Case Western Reserve University career/full academic career:
- Master’s: 250/325
- PhD: 11/12
- Post-doctoral fellows: 4
- A sampling of CWRU PhD graduates and Post-docs’ current careers:
- CWRU Department of Nutrition, assistant professor
- Dominican University, Department of Nutrition, assistant professor
- Gustavus Adolphus College, director of faculty grants
- Southcentral Foundation, senior researcher