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Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access published online on February 23, 2005
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsi048
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Journal of Pediatric Psychology © Society of Pediatric Psychology 2005; all rights reserved.
Received February 13, 2004
Revised August 13, 2004
Accepted August 15, 2004

Article

When Distraction Fails: Parental Anxiety and Children’s Responses to Distraction during Cancer Procedures

Lynnda M. Dahlquist PhD1* and Jennifer Shroff Pendley PhD2

1 Department of Psychology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, and
2 Division of Behavioral Health, A. I duPont Hospital for Children

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Lynnda M. Dahlquist, E-mail: dahlquis{at}umbc.edu


  Abstract

Objective To examine parental anxiety in the context of successful and unsuccessful distraction treatment of preschool aged children undergoing chemotherapy procedures. Methods Twenty-nine children (M age = 42 months) experiencing intramuscular or portacatheter injections participated in the study. Parents and children were shown how to use a portable electronic toy as a distractor during chemotherapy injections. Parental anxiety was assessed at baseline and child distress was coded during each procedure. Results Parents’ baseline state anxiety accounted for 17% of the variance in changes in children’s distress following distraction intervention. Parents of children who did not benefit from distraction reported significantly higher state anxiety at baseline than parents of the other participants. Conclusions Results highlight the importance of examining individual outcomes in intervention studies and suggest that parents’ emotional states may moderate distraction treatment outcome in young children. Future research formally testing parent anxiety as a moderator is recommended.

Keywords: children; distraction; parents; anxiety; distress; medical procedures.
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