The Division of Developmental and Behavioral Sciences at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics is dedicated to advancing scientific knowledge. 

Current and Recent Studies

• Drug study for the treatment of Tourette Syndrome.
• Testing the efficacy of a group motivational interviewing session to reduce risky driving behaviors among adolescents called "Reducing Driving Offenses of Adolescent Drinkers."
• Study applying process-coding methodology to link moment-by-moment interactions between therapist and patient with treatment outcomes of motivational interviewing. Findings will be utilized to enhance training efforts called "Sequential and Component Analysis of MI Mechanisms with College Drinkers."
• "Ask me where it hurts: Developing a standardized approach to the assessment of pain in pediatric rheumatology." Study involving the development and testing of a standardized pain assessment for use in rheumatology practice across the United States and Canada.
• "Real-time assessment of headache triggers in children." Pilot program using real-time electronic diaries and multilevel models to evaluate potential psychosocial, dietary and weather-related triggers of headache in children.
• "Pediatric abdominal pain: Examination of interdisciplinary collaboration in clinic practice." Poster accepted for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in San Diego, Calif.
• Development of an Internet-based headache management system for teens.
• Using electronic diaries to assess in real-time the patterns, consequences and moderators of pain in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
• Study to develop and evaluate a web-based data collection system for monitoring treatment response in children and adolescents being treated for chronic-pain disorders.
• Pilot study to assess the efficacy of biofeedback-assisted relaxation training as an adjunct treatment for pediatric functional dyspepsia associated with duodenal eosinophilia.