THE BEHAVIORAL APPROACH-AVOIDANCE AND DISTRESS SCALE - AN INVESTIGATION OF RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY DURING PAINFUL MEDICAL PROCEDURES

Validated the use of the Behavioral Approach-Avoidance and Distress Sc ale (BAADS; Hubert, Jay, Saltoun, & Hayes, 1988), which was reported t o be easily completed and scored in an analog situation, for measuring children's distress and coping style during actual painful medical pr ocedures. 60 preschool children who were receiving immunizations at a health department were subjects. Objective measures (Observational Sca le of Behavioral Distress and Child-Adult Medical Procedure Interactio n Scale-Revised) and subjective measures (child-, parent-, and nurse-r eport) were used. Results of the current study support the internal co nsistency and concurrent validity of the Distress subscale of the BAAD S; however, some caution is suggested in interpreting the Approach-Avo idance subscale, Discussion focuses on the utility of this scale in cl inical settings and the cost-effectiveness of this measure for assessi ng pediatric patients.