Katelynn Boerner
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Recruitment
Gender and Sex Influences on Pediatric Chronic Pain
In adult pain research there is a common finding that women experience more frequent, intense, and interfering chronic pain. Many studies also suggest that pain care is often biased towards dismissing the pain of female-identifying individuals. However, very little research has considered the impact of sex and gender on pain from a developmental perspective. Our research aims to address that issue by looking at experiences of acute and chronic pain, intergenerational transmission of pain behaviours, and pain treatment outcomes from a sex and gender lens. Our work has also considered the unique experiences of gender-diverse and transgender young people who live with pain, and advocates for an intersectional approach to understanding pain experiences.
Pain Experiences and Treatment in Autistic Young People
Acute and chronic pain experiences are more common in autistic individuals, but they are underrepresented in research. An ongoing program of research on pain in autistic young people aims to: (a) describe the representation of autistic young people in the “gold-standard” chronic pain treatment literature, (b) summarize what evidence is available for the effective treatment of chronic pain in autistic children and youth, (c) determine the epidemiology of everyday acute and chronic pain experiences in autistic children, youth, and young adults, as well as the associations of this pain with other important health metrics such as sleep, mental health, sensory experiences, and (d) explore the experiences of autistic youth and young adults with chronic pain, as well as parents of autistic children who live with chronic pain, with respect to diagnostic uncertainty, gendered pain expectations, and experiences of healthcare.
The Living Lab at Home
Most child health research takes place in laboratory of clinical settings, but these settings are often anxiety-provoking and unfamiliar to families. Families who do not live close to a large hospital or university often do not have the opportunity to take part in this type of research, and even when they can, the research often captures a single snapshot of the family’s experience. The Living Lab at Home (LLAH) aims to make research participation more accessible by co-creating with children and families a series of methods that can answer important research questions from the community, that are adapted to fit the needs of children and youth who function across the developmental spectrum. By working with families and constantly adapting our tools, we have developed methods for doing in-home research that are flexible to adapt to family needs, and can better capture experiences like pain, mental health, sleep, and social interactions, that are dynamic and change over time. We are also developing and testing a data visualization platform so families taking part in LLAH studies can see and interact with their own data.
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Supervision Enquiry
Publications
- Pediatric Avoidant-Restrictive Food Intake Disorder and gastrointestinal-related Somatic Symptom Disorders: Overlap in clinical presentation (2022)
Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, , 135910452110481 - When feelings hurt: Learning how to talk with families about the role of emotions in physical symptoms (2022)
Paediatrics & Child Health, - Editorial: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Reporting Race and Ethnicity in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology (2021)
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 46 (7), 731--733 - Making Sense of “Somatization”: A Systematic Review of its Relationship to Pediatric Pain (2020)
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, - JPP Student Journal Club Commentary: When Adults Evaluate a Child’s Pain: Considering Study Methodology, Gender Bias and Parental Experience (2019)
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, - Adult judgments of children’s pain and fear during venipuncture: The impact of adult and child sex (2018)
Canadian Journal of Pain, 2 (1), 292--301 - Social Media Content About Children’s Pain and Sleep: Content and Network Analysis (2018)
JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, - Sex differences in the efficacy of psychological therapies for the management of chronic and recurrent pain in children and adolescents (2017)
PAIN, 158 (4), 569--582 - State Versus Trait: Validating State Assessment of Child and Parental Catastrophic Thinking About Children's Acute Pain (2017)
The Journal of Pain, - The Effect of Parental Modeling on Child Pain Responses: The Role of Parent and Child Sex (2017)
The Journal of Pain, - A comprehensive categorical and bibliometric analysis of published research articles on pediatric pain from 1975 to 2010 (2016)
PAIN, 157 (2), 302--313 - Impact of Threat Level, Task Instruction, and Individual Characteristics on Cold Pressor Pain and Fear among Children and Their Parents (2016)
Pain Practice, 16 (6), 657--668 - Acceptability by Parents and Children of Deception in Pediatric Research (2015)
Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 36 (2), 75--85 - Acceptance of Vulvovaginal Pain in Women with Provoked Vestibulodynia and Their Partners: Associations with Pain, Psychological, and Sexual Adjustment (2015)
The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 12 (6), 1450--1462 - It is not as simple as boys versus girls: the role of sex differences in pain across the lifespan (2015)
Pain Management, 5 (1), 1--4 - Simple Psychological Interventions for Reducing Pain From Common Needle Procedures in Adults (2015)
The Clinical Journal of Pain, 31, S90--S98 - Core Competencies for Health Professionals' Training in Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Care: A Delphi Study (2014)
Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 13 (4), 265--284 - Implementation of evidence-based psychological interventions for pediatric needle pain. (2014)
Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology, 2 (3), 224--235 - Sex differences in experimental pain among healthy children: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2014)
Pain, 155 (5), 983--993 - Barriers and Facilitators of Evidence-Based Practice in Pediatric Behavioral Sleep Care: Qualitative Analysis of the Perspectives of Health Professionals (2013)
Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 13 (1), 36--51 - Caregiver accuracy in detecting deception in facial expressions of pain in children (2013)
Pain, 154 (4), 525--533 - Families and pain (2013)
Oxford Medicine Online, - Self-Esteem and Social Anxiety in an Adolescent Female Eating Disorder Population: Age and Diagnostic Effects (2013)
Eating Disorders, 21 (2), 140--153 - Contemporary Use of the Cold Pressor Task in Pediatric Pain Research: A Systematic Review of Methods (2012)
The Journal of Pain, 13 (9), 817--826
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