Sharon Wolf, PhD

Scholar

  •  Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education | University of Pennsylvania
  •  Botswana | Côte d'Ivoire | Ghana | Malawi | Nigeria
  •   Early Childhood Development | Maternal Health | Maternal Mental Health | Stress and Child Development

Languages: English, Hebrew (fluent)

BIO STATEMENT

I work at the intersection of developmental psychology and global health, with expertise in early childhood health and development; maternal mental health; and the evaluation of education and social protection programs. Using both large-scale secondary data and primary data, I study the links between poverty, social policies, education, parenting, and child development through descriptive, experimental, and quasi-experimental methods.

Recent Global Health Projects

(i) A large-scale randomized trial evaluating the impacts of unconditional cash transfers on maternal mental health, stress and well-being, and parenting practices.


(ii) Using secondary data to examine the predictors and prevalence of depression among mothers in Cote d’Ivoire and Uruguay.

Select Publications

Kumar, A., Bartoli, B., Lichand, G., & Wolf, S. (2023). Sociodemographic predictors of depression and anxiety symptomatology among parents in rural Côte d’Ivoire. Journal of Affective Disorders, 338, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.05.060

Wolf, S., Kembou, S.N., Ogan, A., & Jasinska, K. (2024). Cash transfers improve economic conditions and reduce maternal stress in rural Côte d’Ivoire. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 33, 1251–1265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-024-02817-y

Last Updated: 03 April 2025