Lynn Walker

Professor

Clinical Science

Office: 11128 Doctor's Office Tower
Phone: 615-936-8006
Fax: 615-936-0282
Email:

Personal Website

Curriculum Vitae

Degrees

Ph.D. (Peabody College of Vanderbilt, 1982)

Research Area

Psychosocial factors associated with the development and maintenance of chronic pain syndromes; children's cognitive and behavioral strategies for coping with pain; adjustment in families of children with chronic illness or disability.

Current Positions

Professor of Pediatrics; Director, Division of Adolsecent Medicine; Professor of Psychology, Peabody College; Associate Professor of Psychology, College of Arts and Science; Investigator, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research and Human Development.

Representative Publications

Lipani, T. A., & Walker, L. S. (in press). Children's appraisal and coping with pain: Relation to maternal ratings of worry and restrictions in family activities. Journal of Pediatric Psychology.
Uc, A., Hyman, P. E., & Walker, L.S. (in press). Functional gastrointestinal disorders in African-American children in primary care. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition.
Walker, L. S., Williams, S. E., Smith, C. A., Garber, J., Van Slyke, D. A., Lipani, T. A., Greene, J. W., Mertz, H., Naliboff, B. D. (in press). Validation of a symptom provocation test for laboratory studies of abdominal pain and discomfort in children and adolescents. Journal of Pediatric Psychology.
Walker, L. S., Smith, C. A., Garber, J., & Claar, R. L. (2005). Testing a model of pain appraisal and coping in children with recurrent abdominal pain. Health Psychology, 24, 364-374.
Walker, L.S., Lipani, T.A., Greene, J.W., Caines, K., Stutts, J., Polk, D.B., Caplan, A., & Rasquin-Weber, A. (2004). Recurrent abdominal pain: Symptom subtypes based on the Rome II criteria for pediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 38, 187-191.
Levy, R. L., & Walker, L. S. (2005). Cognitive behavior therapy for the treatment of recurrent abdominal pain. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 19, 137-149.
Ritterband, L. M., Cox, D. J., Walker, L. S., Kovatchev, B., McKnight, L., Patel, K., Borowitz, S., & Sutphen, J. (2003). An internet treatment intervention as adjunctive therapy for pediatric encopresis. Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology, 71, 910-917. Walker, L. S., & Johnson, W. S. (2003). Recurrent abdominal pain and functional gastrointestinal disorders. In R. Brown (Ed.), Handbook of pediatric psychology in school settings. (pp. 299-312). Lawrence Erlbaum.
Walker, L. S., Claar, R. L., & Garber, J. (2002). Social consequences of children's pain: When do they encourage symptom maintenance? Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 27, 689-698.
Claar, R. L, Walker, L. S., Smith, C. A., & Garber, J. (2002). The influence of appraisals in understanding children's experiences with medical procedures. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 27, 553-563.
Claar, R. L., Walker, L. S., & Barnard, J. A. (2002). Children's knowledge, anticipatory anxiety, procedural distress, and recall of esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. 34, 68-72.
Walker, L. S., & Sorrells, S. (2002). Brief report: Assessment of children's gastrointestinal symptoms for clinical trials. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 27, 303-307.
Walker, L.S., Smith, C.A., Garber, J., Van Slyke, D.A., & Claar, R. (2001). The relation of daily stressors to somatic and emotional symptoms in children with recurrent abdominal pain. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69, 85-91.
Guite, J., Walker, L.S., Smith, C.A., Garber, J. (2000). Children's perceptions of peers with somatic symptoms: The impact of gender, stress, and illness. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 25, 125-135.
Von Baeyer, C., & Walker, L. S. (1999). Children with recurrent abdominal pain: Research criteria for selection of subjects. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 20, 307-313.
Walker, L.S. (1999). The evolution of research on recurrent abdominal pain: History, assumptions, and a conceptual model. In P. J. McGrath & G. A. Finley (Eds.), Chronic and recurrent pain in children and adolescents (pp. 141-172). Seattle: International Association for the Study of Pain.
Walker, L.S. (1999). Empirical foundations for the development of behavioral interventions for recurrent abdominal pain. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 24, 1929-130.
Lewis, R.W. & Walker, L.S. (1999). Maternal attributions for the causes and remedies of their children's abdominal pain. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 24, 345-354.
Walker, L.S., Guite, J.W., Duke, M., Barnard, J.A., & Greene, J.W. (1998). Recurrent abdominal pain: A potential precursor of irritable bowel syndrome in adolescents and young adults. Journal of Pediatrics, 132, 1010-1015.
Walker, L.S., Smith, C.A., Garber, J., & Van Slyke, D.A. (1997). Development and validation of the Pain Response Inventory for Children. Psychological Assessment, 9, 392-405.
Walker, L.S., Garber, J., & Van Slyke, D.A. (1995). Do parents excuse the misbehavior of children with physical or emotional symptoms? An investigation of the pediatric sick role. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 20, 329-345.
Walker, L.S., Garber, J., & Greene, J.W. (1994). Somatic complaints in pediatric patients: A prospective study of the role of negative life events, child social and academic competence, and parental somatic complaints. Journal of Consulting and clinical Psychology, 62, 1213-1221.
Walker, L.S., Garber, J., & Greene, J.W. (1993). Psychosocial characteristics of recurrent childhood pain: A comparison of children with recurrent abdominal pain, organic illness, and psychiatric disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102, 248-258.

Biography

Professor of Pediatrics, Professor of Psychology and Human Development. Dr. Walker's research aims to understand biopsychosocial processes associated with children's illness behavior (i.e., their somatic symptoms, functional disability, and health service utilization). Her research is particularly concerned with children who develop extensive illness behavior that appears to be out of proportion to medical findings. These children may become caught in a self-perpetuating cycle that includes physiological reactivity to stress, perceived lack of control (both in relation to external stressors and to their own physical symptoms), and passive coping. Protective behavior by family members may unintentionally foster these children's perceived lack of control, passive coping, and withdrawal from normal childhood activities. Children with recurrent abdominal pain and their families have served as a prototype in this research. Dr. Walker holds appointments both in the Department of Pediatrics and in Psychology and Human development.