Journal of pediatric psychology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
A school-based, nurse-administered relaxation training for children with chronic tension-type headache.
Compared the efficacy of a school-based, nurse-administered relaxation training intervention to a no-treatment control condition for children (10-15 years old) with chronic tension-type headache and the outcome at posttreatment and a 6-month follow-up. The study was conducted in a controlled between-group design including 26 schoolchildren who were randomly assigned to the two treatment conditions. ⋯ At these evaluations, 69% and 73% of the pupils, respectively, treated with relaxation had achieved a clinically significant headache improvement (at least a 50% improvement) as compared to 8% and 27% of the pupils, respectively, in the no-treatment control group. Thus, a school-based, nurse-administered relaxation training program seems to be a viable treatment approach for children with chronic tension-type headaches.
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Validated the use of the Behavioral Approach-Avoidance and Distress Scale (BAADS; Hubert, Jay, Saltoun, & Hayes, 1988), which was reported to be easily completed and scored in an analog situation, for measuring children's distress and coping style during actual painful medical procedures. 60 preschool children who were receiving immunizations at a health department were subjects. Objective measures (Observational Scale of Behavioral Distress and Child-Adult Medical Procedure Interaction Scale-Revised) and subjective measures (child-, parent-, and nurse-report) were used. Results of the current study support the internal consistency and concurrent validity of the Distress subscale of the BAADS; however, some caution is suggested in interpreting the Approach-Avoidance subscale. Discussion focuses on the utility of this scale in clinical settings and the cost-effectiveness of this measure for assessing pediatric patients.
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Examined predictors of children's ratings of postoperative pain intensity based on a model of children's expectations for surgery developed from the Children's Health Belief Model (Bush & Iannotti, 1990) and McGrath's (1990) model of children's pain experiences. Prior to their inpatient surgeries, 28 children (ages 7-17 years) and their parents completed ratings of children's expected surgery pain, anticipatory anxiety, and expected helpfulness of pain medicine. ⋯ Age, total analgesics administered, and anticipatory anxiety emerged as significant predictors of children's postoperative pain ratings. Methodological issues concerning the measurement of children's expectations for surgery are discussed.