Current status of graduate training in pediatric psychology: Results of a survey

results of survey of graduate programs with 4 or more graduates who were members of the Society of Pediatric Psychology, 1988 / informants were asked the following questions: (a) whether their university had an APA [American Psychological Association]-approved clinical psychology training program, (b) whether there was an identified track in pediatric psychology within this (or any) graduate program, (c) whether a graduate course in pediatric psychology or equivalent topic was offered, and (d) whether a practicum in a child health setting was available (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved

Effects of Maternal Distraction Versus Reassurance on Children's Reactions to Injections

Manipulated experimentally mothers ' verbal behavior during a routine intra-muscular injection in order to help clarify the role of nonprocedural talk (distrac-tion) 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 parental reassurance, parental nonprocedural talk (distraction) or minimal-treatment control group. Children in the maternal dis-traction condition exhibited significantly less distress during the immunization injection 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 control groups did not differ from each other in terms of behavioral distress. The present findings serve further to bolster the evidence for the efficacy of maternal distraction as a way to ameliorate child distress during invasive medical procedures. KEY WORDS: child; mother, distraction; reassurance; injection. The present study was concerned with the effect of maternal verbal behavior on children's distress during an aversive medical procedure. Routine medical proce-Tbe research reported here served as Juan Gonzalez's doctoral dissertation in the Department o

Interpersonal Distance and Coping in Children With HIV and Cancer

We compared interpersonal distance and coping among two groups of preschool pediatric patients diagnosed with either HIV or cancer and a third group of healthy children. In comparison to the children with cancer, children with HIV indicated greater mother-child interpersonal distance--a finding that correlated with mothers' reports of social withdrawal. Other notable findings included increased father-child distance in the HIV population and mother-child discrepancies of perceived interpersonal distance. In addition, seven of the children with HIV indicated that the adults turn away--a finding that correlated with the children's knowledge of their illness. We also explored the possible role of protective communication in the pediatric HIV population