Dr. Robert Kerns

Biography

Robert Kerns is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Yale University, with dual appointments in Psychiatry and Neurology. He earned his Ph.D. in 1980 from Southern Illinois University. His research broadly encompasses health psychology and behavioral medicine, focusing on the integration of neurobiological and psychosocial models to understand the experiences of chronic illness and associated disability. He is particularly interested in the roles of family and broader social contexts, as well as the influence of social cognition and adaptation processes in chronic illness. Kerns' ongoing research program emphasizes the experience of chronic pain, with specific projects aimed at evaluating predictors of psychological treatment outcomes, the relationship between pain and depression, and pain-relevant social responses that contribute to the maintenance of pain-related disability and negative cognition related to pain intensity. He is also exploring the associations between affective distress and health risk behaviors within primary care medical settings, along with their implications for medical outcomes and health care utilization.

Research Interests