Faculty Advisor
Contact Information
Email
Lab Website
(615) 936-2747
Research Area
Education
B.A. Psychology, Cedarville University, May 2010
M.S. Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Dec 2011
Amanda Sherman
Graduate Student
Research Area: Clinical Science
I study factors that contribute to the severity and persistence of pediatric chronic pain. Every child experiences pain differently. Some children are really sensitive to pain and exhibit a large number of pain behaviors, while other children may have a high tolerance for pain and rarely communicate their pain to others. My research broadly focuses on the biological, psychological, and contextual factors that influence 1) how children experience pain; 2) parent and child responses to pain; and 3) the impact of pediatric chronic pain on daily functioning and long-term health outcomes.
Representative Publications
Publications
Walker, L. S., Sherman, A. L., Bruehl, S., Garber, J., Smith, C. A. (in press). Functional abdominal pain patient subtypes in childhood predict subsequent functional gastrointestinal disorders with chronic pain and psychiatric comorbidities in adolescence and adulthood. Pain.
Firmin, M. W., Sherman, A. L., Burger, A. J., Grigsby, M. E., & Croft, J. N. (2011). Coping constructs related to college students with chronic pain. Journal of Ethnographic & Qualitative Research, 6(1), 32-44.
Presentations
Shelby, G.D., Sherman, A.L., Walker, L.S. (2011, April). Life stress and health status in adolescents and young adults with and without long-term chronic abdominal pain. Poster presented at the National Conference in Pediatric Psychology, San Antonio, TX.
Sherman, A.L., Shelby, G.D., Walker, L.S. (2011, April). Changes in coping across time in individuals with a history of pediatric chronic abdominal pain. Poster presented at the National Conference in Pediatric Psychology, San Antonio, TX.
Westbrook, T.D., Sherman, A.L., Walker, L.S. (2011, April). The role of threat appraisal and perceived coping ability in pediatric chronic abdominal pain: Evidence for a fear-avoidance model. Poster presented at the National Conference in Pediatric Psychology, San Antonio, TX.
Firmin, M., Grigsby, M., Croft, J., Sherman, A., Burger, A. (2010, May). The impact of chronic pain on college students quality of life. Poster presented at the 22nd Annual Association for Psychological Science Conference, Boston, MA.
Sherman, A. L., Shelby, G. D., Crish, C. M., Walker, L. S. (2010, April). Pain catastrophizing as a predictor of current abdominal pain severity and functional disability in individuals with a history of pediatric chronic abdominal pain, Poster presented at the 31st Annual Society of Behavioral Medicine Meeting, Seattle, WA.
Firmin, M., Sherman, A., Burger, A., Grigsby, M., & Croft, J. (2010, February).Coping constructs related to college students with chronic pain. Paper presented at the 13th Annual Conference of the American Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Las Vegas, NV.
Firmin, M., Sherman, A., Burger, A., Grigsby, M., & Croft, J. (2009, December). A qualitative study of cognitive factors in university students coping with chronic pain. Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on Social Science Research, Nashville, TN.