HELPING PRESCHOOL LEUKEMIA PATIENTS AND PARENTS COPE DURING INJECTIONS

Taught 4 preschool leukemia patients (ages 3-5) to engage in specific coping behaviors before and during painful intramuscular and intraveno us injections. Parents were taught to coach their children in the use of the coping behaviors. Intervention was delivered in a multiple base line across-subjects design. Parent and child behavior was coded using the Child-Adult Medical Procedure Interaction Scale-Revised (CAMPIS-R , Blount, Powers, and Sturges) and Observation Scale of Behavioral Dis tress (OSBD, Elliott, Jay, Woody). Parents and nurses rated child beha vior as well. Results indicated that parents learned coping promoting behaviors, children learned specific coping behaviors, and children di splayed less behavioral distress. Maintenance of behavior change was a d dressed. Contributions of this study to the current literature on ch ildren's coping with invasive medical procedures and implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.