TY - JOUR
T1 - The impact of types of distractors on child-critical statements by a caregiver during chemotherapy injections
T2 - A case study
AU - Switkin, Marni C.
AU - Gelfand, Kenneth M.
AU - Amari, Adrianna
AU - Dahlquist, Lynnda M.
AU - Slifer, Keith
AU - Eskenazi, Allen E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported, in part, by a grant from the Children’s Cancer Foundation, Baltimore, MD; and by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant #HD35528.
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - Although distraction is a useful strategy for reducing child distress during medical procedures, few guidelines exist for matching distraction strategies to child and parent characteristics. This case study evaluated the effects of two distractors with a caregiver observed to be critical of her child's behavior during chemotherapy injections. The participants were a 4-year-old girl diagnosed with Wilms' Tumor and her grandmother. A reversal design was employed to compare the effects of the distractors. The first, an "evaluative" distractor, required the child to perform pre-academic tasks, and the second, a "nonevaluative" distractor, was an interactive book. Caregiver critical statements were moderately high during baseline, increased with the evaluative distractor, decreased dramatically with the nonevaluative distractor, and returned to elevated levels with reversal to the original distractor. These findings suggest the potential benefit of encouraging critical caregivers to use nonevaluative distractors during invasive medical procedures.
AB - Although distraction is a useful strategy for reducing child distress during medical procedures, few guidelines exist for matching distraction strategies to child and parent characteristics. This case study evaluated the effects of two distractors with a caregiver observed to be critical of her child's behavior during chemotherapy injections. The participants were a 4-year-old girl diagnosed with Wilms' Tumor and her grandmother. A reversal design was employed to compare the effects of the distractors. The first, an "evaluative" distractor, required the child to perform pre-academic tasks, and the second, a "nonevaluative" distractor, was an interactive book. Caregiver critical statements were moderately high during baseline, increased with the evaluative distractor, decreased dramatically with the nonevaluative distractor, and returned to elevated levels with reversal to the original distractor. These findings suggest the potential benefit of encouraging critical caregivers to use nonevaluative distractors during invasive medical procedures.
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U2 - 10.1207/S15326888CHC3104_4
DO - 10.1207/S15326888CHC3104_4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0036762540
SN - 0273-9615
VL - 31
SP - 311
EP - 319
JO - Children's Health Care
JF - Children's Health Care
IS - 4
ER -