Biography
Natoshia R. Cunningham, PhD, is a 2025-2026 Fulbright US Scholar to Spain
Dr. Natoshia R Cunningham, PhD, is a Red Cedar Distinguished Professor and an Associate Professor in the College of Human Medicine, Department of Family Medicine at Michigan State University and directs the HELP PAIN Lab. She is a licensed clinical psychologist whose research focuses on 1) developing and testing psychological treatments for youth with chronic painful health conditions (e.g., lupus, functional abdominal pain) and co-occurring mental health symptoms, 2) studying neural mechanisms of pediatric pain and effect of psychological therapies for these conditions, and 3) increasing access to behavioral healthcare for pediatric chronic pain and mental health concerns using community-engaged and culturally adapted methods, with active projects in the US and abroad. She has published numerous scholarly papers in peer-reviewed journals, and holds current or recent grants from the National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Defense, and several foundational sources, including the Michigan Health Endowment Fund and the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance-Arthritis Foundation. She is a clinical behavioral trialist and dissemination and implementation scientist committed to mentoring the next generation of clinical scientists.
Education/Training
Dr. Cunningham earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2011, specializing in the assessment and treatment of childhood anxiety disorders. As part of her graduate training, she completed her clinical internship in pediatric behavioral medicine at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center from 2010-2011. She came to MSU from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, where she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric pain from 2011 to 2014 and served as research faculty from 2014 to 2019.
Employment
Michigan State University, East Lansing, -
Publications
PURSUIT Protocol: Development of a Novel Approach to Managing Youth Physical and Mental Health in Schools Children (2026)
The Impact of a CBT Program for Pediatric Patients with Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction and Co-Occurring Mental Health Diagnoses Academic Pediatrics (2026)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Youth with Childhood‐Onset Lupus: A Randomized Clinical Trial Arthritis Care & Research (2025)
Examining Self-Reported Executive Function and Its Relationship to Patient-Reported Outcomes and Disease-Related Factors in Youth With Childhood-Onset Lupus: A Cross-Sectional Study. ACR open rheumatology (2025)
Moving Integrated Care for Pediatric Somatic Symptoms into Primary Care: An Innovative Approach. Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings (2025)
Health Care Utilization Following Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Pediatric Abdominal Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial. The Clinical journal of pain (2025)
The Influence of Anxiety and Pain Catastrophizing on Pain-Related Impairment in Youth With Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders. The Clinical journal of pain (2025)
ADAPTed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Pediatric Functional Abdominal Pain in Community-Based Pediatric Care: Mixed Methods Study JMIR Formative Research (2025)
American College of Rheumatology Guidance Statements for Addressing Mental Health Concerns in Youth With Pediatric Rheumatologic Diseases Arthritis Care & Research (2025)
Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of psychological interventions on anxiety in children and youth with chronic medical conditions Journal of Pediatric Psychology (2025)
The Evolving Landscape of Using Telehealth to Address Pediatric Mental Health in a Postpandemic Era Academic Pediatrics (2025)
The Impact of a Brief Educational Seminar on Pediatric Pain-focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for School Providers The Clinical Journal of Pain (2024)
Helping Educators Learn Pediatric Pain Assessment and Intervention Needs Program (HELP PAIN): Program Development with Community Partners Children (2024)
Psychological distress and coping efficacy in children with disorders of gut-brain interaction. Neurogastroenterology and motility (2023)
Does it hold promise? Measuring pediatric anxiety via PROMIS vs the clinically validated SCARED Children's Health Care (2023)
Commentary: Actionable Steps for Addressing Pediatric Pain in Rural and Underserved Communities: Disrupting Our Approach to Psychological Science and Care Journal of Pediatric Psychology (2023)
A multi-site pilot randomized clinical trial of the Treatment and Education Approach for Childhood-onset Lupus (TEACH) program: study design and COVID-19 adaptations Pediatric Rheumatology (2023)
The Elephant in the Rheum: Time to Address Mental Health as a Priority in Pediatric Rheumatology The Journal of Rheumatology (2023)
An ecological approach to understanding and addressing health inequities of systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus (2023)
Non-pharmacologic therapies in treatment of childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus: A systematic review. Lupus (2022)
A Scoping Review and Proposed Framework for Coping in Youth With a History of Psychological Trauma and Chronic Pain. Journal of pediatric psychology (2022)
Effect of percutaneous electrical nerve field stimulation on mechanosensitivity, sleep, and psychological comorbidities in adolescents with functional abdominal pain disorders. Neurogastroenterology and motility (2022)
Mental Health in Pediatric Rheumatology Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America (2022)
Establishing Clinical Cut-points on the Pediatric PROMIS-Pain Interference Scale in Youth With Abdominal Pain. The Clinical journal of pain (2021)
Child-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Pediatric Abdominal Pain Disorders Reduces Caregiver Anxiety in Randomized Clinical Trial. The journal of pain (2021)
Elevated fecal calprotectin is linked to psychosocial complexity in pediatric functional abdominal pain disorders. BMC research notes (2021)
Engagement during a Mixed In-Person and Remotely Delivered Psychological Intervention for Youth with Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders and Anxiety. Children (Basel, Switzerland) (2021)
Anxiety and Depression in Childhood Rheumatologic Conditions: A Topical Review Indian Journal of Rheumatology (2021)
Evaluating Telehealth Implementation in the Context of Pediatric Chronic Pain Treatment during COVID-19. Children (Basel, Switzerland) (2021)
The Utility of an Anxiety Screening Measure in Youth With Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders and Clinical Characteristics Associated With Presence of Anxiety. The Clinical journal of pain (2021)
Addressing Pediatric Mental Health Using Telehealth During Coronavirus Disease-2019 and Beyond: A Narrative Review. Academic pediatrics (2021)
Cognitive Behavior Therapy Tailored to Anxiety Symptoms Improves Pediatric Functional Abdominal Pain Outcomes: A Randomized Clinical Trial The Journal of Pediatrics (2021)
Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the PROMIS Pediatric Pain Intensity Measure in Children and Adolescents with Chronic Pain. The journal of pain (2020)
The Impact of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder on Clinical Presentation and Psychosocial Treatment Response in Youth with Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders: An Exploratory Study. Children (Basel, Switzerland) (2020)
The Influence of Caregiver Distress and Child Anxiety in Predicting Child Somatization in Youth with Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders. Children (Basel, Switzerland) (2019)
Brain mechanisms impacted by psychological therapies for pain: identifying targets for optimization of treatment effects. Pain reports (2019)
Insurance status predicts health care use and indirect disease burden in youth with functional abdominal pain disorders Children's Health Care (2019)
Clinical Reference Points for the Screen for Child Anxiety-related Disorders in 2 Investigations of Youth With Chronic Pain. The Clinical journal of pain (2019)
Development and pilot testing of the treatment and education approach for childhood-onset lupus (TEACH): a cognitive behavioral treatment. Pediatric rheumatology online journal (2019)
Maternal Protective Parenting Accounts for the Relationship Between Pain Behaviors and Functional Disability in Adolescents. The Clinical journal of pain (2018)
Integrating Psychological Screening Into Medical Care for Youth With Abdominal Pain. Pediatrics (2018)
Irritability is Common and is Related to Poorer Psychosocial Outcomes in Youth with Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders (FAPD). Children (Basel, Switzerland) (2018)
Development of the Aim to Decrease Anxiety and Pain Treatment for Pediatric Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition (2018)
Clinical Profiles of Young Adults With Juvenile-Onset Fibromyalgia With and Without a History of Trauma. Arthritis care & research (2017)
Fatigue and depression predict reduced health-related quality of life in childhood-onset lupus. Lupus (2017)
Risk Categorization Predicts Disability in Pain-associated Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders After 6 Months. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition (2017)
A Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Role of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Pediatric Chronic Pain. The Clinical journal of pain (2017)
Anxiety Adversely Impacts Response to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Children with Chronic Pain. The Journal of pediatrics (2016)
Pain, Fatigue, and Psychological Impact on Health-Related Quality of Life in Childhood-Onset Lupus. Arthritis care & research (2016)
Psychiatric Disorders in Young Adults Diagnosed with Juvenile Fibromyalgia in Adolescence. The Journal of rheumatology (2015)
Qualitative Evaluation of Pediatric Pain Behavior, Quality, and Intensity Item Candidates and the PROMIS Pain Domain Framework in Children With Chronic Pain. The journal of pain (2015)
Parent Management Training and Collaborative & Proactive Solutions: A Randomized Control Trial for Oppositional Youth. Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53 (2015)
Concordant parent-child reports of anxiety predict impairment in youth with functional abdominal pain. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition (2015)
Measuring Treatment Response in an Outpatient Pediatric Pain Program Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology (2015)
Child pain catastrophizing mediates the relation between parent responses to pain and disability in youth with functional abdominal pain. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition (2014)
Specific phobias in youth: a randomized controlled trial comparing one-session treatment to a parent-augmented one-session treatment. Behavior therapy (2014)
Long-term outcomes of adolescents with juvenile-onset fibromyalgia in early adulthood. Pediatrics (2014)
Phenomenology of Clinic-Referred Children and Adolescents with Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Comorbid Anxiety Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment (2013)
Importance of addressing anxiety in youth with functional abdominal pain: suggested guidelines for physicians. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition (2013)
Nonpharmacological treatment of pain in rheumatic diseases and other musculoskeletal pain conditions. Current rheumatology reports (2013)
Comorbidity of anxiety and conduct problems in children: implications for clinical research and practice. Clinical child and family psychology review (2010)
From caregiver psychological distress to adolescent glycemic control: the mediating role of perceived burden around diabetes management. Journal of pediatric psychology (2010)
Expressed emotion displayed by the mothers of inhibited and uninhibited preschool-aged children. Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53 (2010)
Family conflict and childhood aggression: the role of child anxiety. Journal of interpersonal violence (2009)
Specific phobia in youth: phenomenology and psychological characteristics. Behavior therapy (2009)
In the News
Bridging the Gap: PURSUIT Project Empowers Michigan Schools to Tackle Youth Health and Mental Wellness
In the quiet hallways of schools, a silent cycle often takes hold: a child may experience common mental health or health symptoms that go undetected. For many students, specialized care is…
Global Progress in Pediatric Psychology: Dr. Natoshia Cunningham's Work on Chronic Pain Takes Center Stage in Spain
Dr. Natoshia Cunningham recently returned from the European Paediatric Psychology Network conference, which occurred from October 9th-11th in Malaga, Spain, and was chaired by Dr. Rocio de la Vega…
Featured Researcher: Dr. Natoshia Cunningham
Dr. Natoshia Cunningham, Associate Professor and pediatric psychologist in the Department of Family Medicine is transforming how children and families navigate chronic pain through a program she…
Balancing Science, Advocacy and Parenthood: MSU Psychologist Earns Fulbright to Expand Care for Kids with Chronic Pain
*Article original posted on https://humanmedicine.msu.edu/
Natoshia Cunningham has made it her life’s work to create tailored psychological treatments for children facing chronic pain. A…
Decoding Pain Relief: How Does a Coping Skills Program Impact Pain, Anxiety, and Brain Function in Children with FAPD?
Women in Medicine Month
September is recognized as Women in Medicine Month. During September members of our department will be sharing their thoughts and stories on Women in Medicine.
Cunningham Presents Research in Sweden
Mental Health in Pediatric Rheumatology: An Opportunity to Improve Outcomes
Establishing Clinical Cut-points on the Pediatric PROMIS-pain Interference Scale in Youth with Abdominal Pain
Elevated fecal calprotectin is linked to psychosocial complexity in pediatric functional abdominal pain disorders
Engagement during a mixed in-person and remotely delivered psychological intervention for youth with functional abdominal pain disorders and anxiety
Functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPD) are common pain conditions in youth that are associated with anxiety and can impact daily functioning. The Aim to Decrease Anxiety and Pain Treatment …
Addressing Pediatric Mental Health Using Telehealth During Coronavirus Disease-2019 and Beyond: A Narrative Review
Department of Family Medicine Faculty Ranked in NIH Funding
The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research recently released their ranking of NIH Funding by school and…
Natoshia Cunningham, PhD, Discusses Psychological Treatment Study for Childhood Onset Lupus
tailored cognitive behavioral therapy improves functional disability and anxiety in youth with functional abdominal pain disorders