Faculty of Science
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA | CANADA B3H 4J1 | +1 (902) 494-3540

Christine Chambers

Canada Research Chair in Pain & Child Health (Tier 2)
Pediatrics/Psychology

Education

  • 2001, PhD, Clinical Psychology, University of British Columbia
  • 1998, MA, Clinical Psychology, University of British Columbia
  • 1996, BSc, Psychology, Dalhousie University

Publications
Dr. Chambers has written numerous papers, serves as a reviewer for many publications and on the board of Journal of Pediatric Psychology. She has also co-edited a book, Bringing pain relief to children: Treatment approaches.

Honours and Awards

  • Canada Research Chair in Pain and Child Health (Tier II), 2004-2009
  • Society of Pediatric Psychology (APA Division 54) Routh Early Career Award, 2005
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Investigator Award, 2001-2004
  • American Pain Society Young Investigator Travel Award, 2004
  • World Congress of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Young Investigator Award, 2004
  • Special Interest Group on Pain in Childhood, International Association for the Study of Pain, Young Investigator Award in Pediatric Pain, 2003
  • Canadian Pain Society Early Career Award 2003
  • UBC Peter Wall Institute Early Career Scholar Award, 2002-2003
  • Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Award, 2001-2003
  • Canadian Psychological Association President’s New Researcher Award, 2002
  • Dr. John T. Goodman Award for Research in Pediatric Pain, 2002
  • Macleans Magazine “Young Canadian to Watch,” 2000
  • Best Paper Award from International Conference (Pediatric Pain: Challenges, Innovations, and Costs), 1995

Membership in Professional Associations

  • American Pain Society (APS)
  • American Psychological Association (APA)
  • Division 53 APA, Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent
  • Psychology (SCCAP)
  • Division 54 APA, Society of Pediatric Psychology (SPP)
  • Canadian Pain Society (CPS)
  • Canadian Psychological Association (CPA)
  • International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)

Mentoring
Doctoral students Nancy Bandstra, Meghan McMurtry, Marie-Claude Grégoire, Elizabeth (Job) Stanford, Lindsay Uman and Master's student Tessa Craig.

Website
Dr. Christine Chambers' Pediatric Psychology Research Team

Email: Dr. Christine Chambers

       

Helping children in pain

Chronic pain is a major health concern affecting up to 20 per cent of children and adolescents; one in five experience chronic pains such as headaches or stomach aches. With their pain comes depressed mood, school absenteeism, and multiple and frequent consultations with health-care providers. Many children with chronic pain go on to become adults with chronic pain.

Canada Research Chair Dr. Christine Chambers is studying pain in children; she wants to improve assessment and treatment approaches. One of her interests is the role of the family in children’s pain. By observing how family members respond to and think about their children’s pain, she hopes to develop interventions that can be used to help families better support their children when they have headaches and stomach aches.

Another area of interest for Dr. Chambers is the link between sleep problems and chronic pain in adolescents. Pain can cause sleep problems, and sleep problems can make it difficult to cope with pain. Dr. Chambers’ research is trying to make sense of the complicated relationships between sleep and pain; her work will lead to better management of pain and sleep problems.

Pain isn’t easy to measure in children because it’s a subjective (or internal) experience, and that means the person must be able to tell you about his or her pain in order to be able to understand it best. Children often have difficulties communicating verbally about their pain. For this reason, Dr. Chambers’ research also examines how we can better ask children about their pain.

Pain is common for children but, in many cases, if managed appropriately, its impact can be diminished. Dr. Chambers’ research is providing important information that health professionals will be able to use to reduce unnecessary suffering in children.

(Source: Canada Research Chairs)