Caroline Cummings, Ph.D

Research Interests

Dr. Cummings examines the interconnections between affect, related biobehavioral processes (including nonvolitional and volitional self-regulatory systems), and health in the daily lives of youths and young adults with or at-risk for chronic and complex medical conditions (e.g., type 1 diabetes, overweight/obesity, substance use). Within her work, she emphasizes the impact of sociocultural functioning on health and development; thus, she often explores the relationships between key study variables at the individual level as well as within dyads (e.g., parent-child dyads) and examine the translation of findings across diverse populations.

Selected Research

• Cummings, C., Lansing, A.H., & Houck, C.D. (in press). Perceived strengths and difficulties in emotional awareness and accessing emotion regulation strategies in early adolescents. Journal of Child and Family Studies.
• Singer, J., Cummings, C., Coccaro, E. (in press). Parental separation and death during childhood as predictors of adult psychopathology: An examination of racial differences. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy.
• Cummings, C., Benjamin, N., Prahbu, H., Cohen, L.B., Goddard, B.J., Kaugars, A.S., Humiston, T. & Lansing, A.H. (2022). Habit and diabetes self-management in adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Health Psychology, 41,13-22.
• Cummings, C., Crochiere, R., Lansing A.H., Patel, R. & Stanger, C. (2022). Digital health program targeting physical activity among adolescents with overweight and obesity. JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, 5.
• Cummings, C., Feldstein Ewing, S.W., Tran, D.D., Stoyles, S., Dieckmann, N.F., Holley, A.L., & Wilson, A.C. (2022). Trajectories and predictors of daily acute pain and sleep quality in adolescents. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 45,613-621.
• Cummings, C., Humiston, T., Cohen, L.B., & Lansing, A.H. (2022). The role of COVID-19 fears and related behaviors in understanding daily adolescent health behaviors during the pandemic. Journal of Health Psychology, 27,1354-1364.
• Cummings, C., & Lansing, A.H. (2022). Daily associations of positive emotion and obesity-related behaviors and their interconnections within adolescent-caregiver dyads. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 56,146-156.
• Stiles-Sheilds, C., Cummings, C., Montague, E., Plevinsky, J., Psihogios, A., Williams, K. (2022). A call to action: Extending human-centered design methodologies to improve mental health equity.Frontiers in Digital Health, 4.

Honors and Awards

• 2022 Recipient, Faculty Research & Support Funding for Diversity Program ($10,000)
• 2022 Citation Award, Society of Behavioral Medicine
• 2022 Emerging Leader, Society of Behavioral Medicine Diversity Institute for Emerging Leaders
• 2021 Boston University Emerging Scholars Honorarium
• 2021 Poster Award Winner, Society of Pediatric Psychology Pain Special Interest Group
• 2019 RISE Research Award, Association for Psychological Science
• 2016-2018 Jim Mikawa Diversity Graduate Assistantship in Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno