• Christina Liossi, Paul White, Linda Franck, and Popi Hatira.
• School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, UK. cliossi@soton.ac.uk
• Clin J Pain. 2007 Jun 1; 23 (5): 392-9.

ObjectivesThe aim of this prospective investigation was to evaluate child and parental expectancies as a predictor of pain perception in pediatric oncology patients undergoing painful medical procedures.MethodsForty-five children with leukemia or non-Hodgkin lymphoma and their parents rated expected and experienced pain during lumbar punctures at baseline, during intervention (ie, cognitive-behavior therapy) administered by a therapist and when children were using cognitive-behavior therapy skills independently.ResultsParental and child expectancies were significantly correlated. Parents consistently expected their children to experience more pain than children were expecting themselves. Parental expectancy was found to mediate the relationship between child expected and experienced pain during every phase of the study.DiscussionIt is concluded that parental expectancies are reliable predictors of pediatric procedure-related pain and possible useful targets for psychologic interventions to manage such pain.

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