EFFECTS OF MATERNAL DISTRACTION VERSUS REASSURANCE ON CHILDRENS REACTIONS TO INJECTIONS

Manipulated experimentally mothers' verbal behavior during a routine i ntramuscular injection in order to help clarify the role of nonprocedu ral talk (distraction) and parental reassurance on children's reaction to the injection. 42 child-mother dyads were recruited from a general pediatric primary care clinic and were randomly assigned to a parenta l reassurance, parental nonprocedural talk (distraction) or minimal-tr eatment control group. Children in the maternal distraction condition exhibited significantly less distress during the immunization injectio n than those in the reassurance and control conditions. Specifically, children in the maternal distraction group exhibited less crying than children in the other two groups. Children in the reassurance and cont rol groups did not differ from each other in terms of behavioral distr ess. The present findings serve further to bolster the evidence for th e efficacy of maternal distraction as a way to ameliorate child distre ss during invasive medical procedures.