Jessica S. Pierce, PhD

Psychology

Primary Office

Nemours Children's Hospital, Florida Nemours Children's Hospital, Florida 6535 Nemours Parkway Orlando, FL 32827 Appointment: (407) 650-7715

Other Offices

Get to Know Me

Growing up in Florida, I volunteered at a camp for children with diabetes. That’s where I first experienced the interplay of psychology and medicine and realized what I wanted to do with my life. I trained at Nemours in Delaware. Afterwards, I was excited to stay in the Nemours system and return to my home state.

Why I Treat Children

During my volunteer days with children living with a chronic medical condition, I saw their day-to-day difficulties firsthand. It still amazes me how much children and teens are capable of handling with grace. When emotional and behavioral support is necessary, the best approach is teamwork. My job is to help children and families work together effectively.

What I'm Passionate About

I’m passionate about helping children and teens with chronic and acute medical conditions. I strive to provide complete family-centered care. This means partnering with other providers and supporting patients and their families emotionally through various stages of adjustment — which may include diagnosis, ongoing treatment, difficulties with medication compliance, the social impact of a medical condition and transition to adult care.

How I Try to Make A Difference

It is a privilege to help patients and families cope with and adjust to having a chronic or acute illness. I try to use my knowledge, experience and abilities to connect with families, normalize their experience, recognize individual and family strengths, and build trust.

Education & Training

Fellowship

  • Pediatric Psychology - Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware, 2014

Internship

  • Clinical Psychology - Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, 2013

Medical/Dental School

  • Doctor of Philosophy - University of Southern Mississippi, 2013

Insurance Accepted

  • Aetna HMO/POS/PPO/EPO
  • AmeriHealth Caritas Florida (FKA Prestige Health Choice)
  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield HMO
  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield Non HMO
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield Florida Blue Select
  • Community Care Plan Medicaid
  • Employers Health Network PPO
  • Evolutions Healthcare
  • Florida Medicare
  • HealthSmart Health Plans PPO
  • Molina Healthcare Medicaid
  • Multiplan PPO
  • Olympus Managed Healthcare PPO ORL
  • Prime Health Services PPO Specialty Florida
  • Seminole Tribe of Florida
  • Star Healthcare Network
  • Sunshine SMI/CMS 19 & 21
  • Sunshine State Health Plan Medicaid
  • Three Rivers Provider Network
  • Tricare/Humana Military Health Services
  • Volusia Health Network PPO/EPO

  • Adjustment to Medical Illness
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Autism
  • Depressive Disorders
  • Diabetes
  • Disruptive Behavior
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Research Activities

  • Transition from pediatric to adult care in emerging adults with diabetes
  • Daily routines in youth with diabetes
  • Social networking and the diabetes online community

  • Psychosocial Staffing and Implementation of the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes Psychological Care Guidelines in U.S. Pediatric Diabetes Clinics; Diabetes Spectrum; (2023).

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  • Development and Evaluation of the Pediatric Diabetes Routine Questionnaire for Parents of Young Children with Type 1 Diabetes; Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings; (2023).

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  • Remedy to Diabetes Distress (R2D2): Development protocol for a scalable screen-to-treat program for families of school-age children; Contemporary Clinical Trials; (2022).

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  • The association between pediatric mental health disorders and type 1 diabetes-related outcomes; Pediatric Diabetes; (2022).

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  • ISPAD Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines 2022: Management and support of children and adolescents with diabetes in school; Pediatric Diabetes; (2022).

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  • Topical Review: Crowdsourcing as a Novel Approach to Qualitative Research; Journal of Pediatric Psychology; (2021).

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  • Feasibility of Implementing a Pediatric Diabetes Clinic via Telehealth; Diabetes Spectrum; (2021).

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  • Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Young Adults With Diabetes in the Clinic and Beyond; Diabetes Spectrum; (2021).

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  • About Jessica S. Pierce, PhD: Guest Editor; Diabetes Spectrum; (2021).

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  • Transdisciplinary Care for Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes: Development of a Provider Cross-Discipline Training Curriculum; Diabetes Spectrum; (2021).

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  • Development and Validation of the Parent-Preschoolers Diabetes Adjustment Scale (PP-DAS); Journal of Pediatric Psychology; (2020).

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  • Validation of the Healthcare Transition Outcomes Inventory for Young Adults With Type 1 Diabetes; Journal of Pediatric Psychology; (2020).

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  • Erratum: Health care transition for young adults with type 1 diabetes: Stakeholder engagement for defining optimal outcomes (Journal of Pediatric Psychology (2017) DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsx076); Journal of Pediatric Psychology; (2020).

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  • Integrating play in trauma-informed care: Multidisciplinary pediatric healthcare provider perspectives.; Psychological Services; (2019).

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  • Development and Validation of the Pediatric Diabetes Routines Questionnaire for Adolescents; Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings; (2019).

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  • Benefit finding among parents of young children with type 1 diabetes; Pediatric Diabetes; (2019).

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  • Development and content validation of the Healthcare Transition Outcomes Inventory for young adults with type 1 diabetes; Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes; (2019).

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  • Family Consequences of Potentially Traumatic Pediatric Medical Events: Implications for Trauma-Informed Care; Journal of Family Psychology; (2019).

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  • A Web-Based Coping Intervention by and for Parents of Very Young Children With Type 1 Diabetes: User-Centered Design (Preprint); Unknown Source; (2018).

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  • ISPAD Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines 2018: Management and support of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes in school; Pediatric Diabetes; (2018).

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  • A Web-Based Coping Intervention by and for Parents of Very Young Children With Type 1 Diabetes: User-Centered Design; JMIR Diabetes; (2018).

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  • Electronically Verified Use of Internet-Based, Multimedia Decision Aids by Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes and Their Caregivers; MDM Policy and Practice; (2018).

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  • A retrospective analysis of boarding times for adolescents in psychiatric crisis; Social Work in Health Care; (2018).

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  • The ups and downs of parenting young children with type 1 diabetes: A crowdsourcing study; Journal of Pediatric Psychology; (2017).

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  • Health Care Transition for Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes: Stakeholder Engagement for Defining Optimal Outcomes; Journal of Pediatric Psychology; (2017).

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  • Type 1 diabetes in very young children: a model of parent and child influences on management and outcomes; Pediatric Diabetes; (2017).

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  • School-based screening to identify children at risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Barriers and implications; Children's Health Care; (2016).

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  • Consideration of Insulin Pumps or Continuous Glucose Monitors by Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes and Their Parents: Stakeholder Engagement in the Design of Web-Based Decision Aids; Diabetes Educator; (2016).

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  • Topical review: Advancing research on the transition to adult care for type 1 diabetes; Journal of Pediatric Psychology; (2015).

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  • Risk for psychosocial problems in pediatric cancer: Impact of socioeconomics; Children's Health Care; (2013).

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  • Development and evaluation of the Pediatric Diabetes Routines Questionnaire; Children's Health Care; (2012).

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  • English