Kinesiology & Health Education

About Dr. Gapin

Jennifer Gapin recently joined the KHE faculty and serves as an Assistant Professor in Sport and Exercise Behavior. She received her Ph.D. in Kinesiology with a specialization in Sport and Exercise Psychology from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, her M.S. degree in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana, and her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Bryn Mawr College.

Her teaching experience includes various undergraduate and graduate courses in the psycho-social aspects of sport, applied sport psychology, exercise psychology, research methods, and fitness/wellness.  Dr. Gapin’s primary research interests include investigating the effects of exercise on cognitive function, specifically in children, adolescents, and adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Additional research interests include disordered eating and body image in collegiate athletes and adult exercisers.

In addition to her research activities, Dr. Gapin has been providing sport psychology services to athletes, teams, and coaches at all age and competition levels since 2005. She is a Certified Consultant through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (CC-AASP) and currently provides supervision and mentoring to prospective sport and exercise psychology consultants.

Representative Publications:

• Gapin, J.I., Etnier, J.L., & Tucker, D. The relationship between frontal brain asymmetry and exercise addiction. Journal of Psychophysiology, 23, 135-142.
  
• Gapin, J.I. & Etnier, J.L. (In press). The relationship between physical activity and executive function performance in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.  Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology.
  
• Etnier, J.L., Karper, W.B., Gapin, J.I., Barella, L.A., Chang, Y., & Murphy, K. (2009). Exercise, fibromyalgia, and fibrofog: A pilot study. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 6, 239-246.
  
• Cremades, J. G., Hilliard, T. M., & Gapin, J. I. (2010). The effects of physical practice on a novel mental imagery task as measured by electroencephalography (EEG). Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity, 5, 1.
  
• Petruzzello, S.J., Gapin, J.I., Snook, E., & Smith, D.L. (2009). Perceptual and physiological heat strain: Examination of firefighters in laboratory and field-based studies. Ergonomics, 52, 747-754.