Posted on October 31, 2001 at 10:34 a.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Psychologist Jan Wallander, Ph.D., has been named director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Developmental Psychology Doctoral Program. He succeeds Michael Windle, Ph.D., who now directs the new UAB Comprehensive Youth Violence Center.

Wallander is a professor in the department of psychology and a senior scientist with the Civitan International Research Center. His research focuses on the health experiences and the quality of life of chronically ill or disabled children and teens. He also studies how families cope with the stress of caring for a child with a chronic illness or disability. Wallander is co-editor of a new book Quality of Life in Child and Adolescent Illness: Concepts, Methods and Findings (2001, Brunner-Routledge).

He has also become involved in research that looks at the risk and protective factors for multiple child and teen health behaviors, including tobacco use, alcohol and other drug abuse, violence, injurious behaviors, physical activity and nutrition, and sexual behavior.

Wallander earned his bachelor’s degree in 1975 from Ashland University and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Purdue University in 1977 and 1981 respectively.