Abstract
This study examined the effectiveness of an intervention for reducing behavioral distress in children during needle sticks. Participants were eight children and their parents. The children received injections or venipunctures for hematological or oncological disease. The distress management intervention included instruction for children to engage in a distraction activity during needle sticks and parent training in coaching their children. The intervention was adapted to clinic and home treatment settings. Results indicated that five children exhibited significantly less distress after treatment when compared with baseline sessions, that treatment gains were maintained at follow-up for three of them, and that child distress was significantly and negatively related to use of the experimental distractor. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 119-130 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2001 |
Keywords
- Distraction
- Distress
- Medical procedures
- Pediatric
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology(all)
- Clinical Psychology