Decreasing child distress during needle sticks and maintaining treatment gains over time

This study examined the effectiveness of an intervention for reducing behav ioral distress in children during needle sticks. Participants were eight ch ildren and their parents. The children received injections or venipunctures for hematological or oncological disease. The distress management interven tion included instruction for children to engage in a distraction activity during needle sticks and parent training in coaching their children. The in tervention was adapted to clinic and home treatment settings. Results indic ated that five children exhibited significantly less distress after treatme nt when compared with baseline sessions, that treatment gains were maintain ed at follow-up for three of them, and that child distress was significantl y and negatively related to use of the experimental distracter. Implication s for clinical practice are discussed.