Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effects of cognitive coping skills training on coping strategies and experimental pain sensitivity in African American adults with sickle cell disease.
The present study examined whether training in cognitive coping skills would enhance pain coping strategies and alter pain perception in adults with sickle cell disease (SCD). Sixty-four African Americans with SCD were randomly assigned to either a cognitive coping skills condition (three 45-min sessions in which patients were trained to use 6 cognitive coping strategies) or a disease-education control condition (three 45-min didactic-discussion sessions about SCD). Pain sensitivity to calibrated noxious stimulation was measured at pre- and posttesting, as were cognitive coping strategies, clinical pain, and health behaviors. Results indicated that, compared with the randomly assigned control condition, brief training in cognitive coping skills resulted in increased coping attempts, decreased negative thinking, and lower tendency to report pain during laboratory-induced noxious stimulation.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
An investigation of cognitive-behavior therapy combined with oral valium for children undergoing painful medical procedures.
In previous research, a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) package was found to be effective in reducing children's distress associated with the painful medical procedures of bone marrow aspirations (BMAs) and lumbar punctures (LPs). Orally administered Valium demonstrated less effectiveness but was helpful in reducing behavioral distress before the medical procedure. In the present study, we investigated whether the combination of oral Valium and CBT would result in increased efficacy of the CBT. ⋯ Dependent variables included observed behavioral distress, self-reported fear and pain, and pulse rate. Results failed to support the value of such a combination but did provide additional evidence in regard to the effectiveness of the CBT. The need for more potent medical interventions for some children is discussed.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Coping skills training for children: effects on distress before, during, and after hospitalization for surgery.
Thirty-three parent-child dyads (children's mean age = 7.2 years, SD = 1.2) were randomly assigned to information, anxiety reduction, or coping skills presurgical preparatory interventions. All groups received the "information" procedure that described typical hospitalization and surgery experiences via a puppetry film viewed 1 week prior to hospital admission. In the anxiety reduction group, parents also learned procedures (e.g., relaxation) to help them reduce their own distress. ⋯ Anxiety reduction and coping skills groups, compared to the information group, reduced children's self-reported fearfulness and parents' reported distress. Furthermore, only the coping skills group, compared to the information group, exhibited fewer maladaptive behaviors during hospitalization (ratings by observers) and less problematic behavior in the preadmission week and second postdischarge week (daily parental diaries). Theoretical explanations for these results are discussed in light of the similar findings obtained by Peterson and Shigetomi (1981).
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Psychological changes over the course of pregnancy: a study of attitudes toward the fetus/neonate.
Pregnant women's attitudes towards their fetus over the course of the pregnancy were studied in relation to physiological events of pregnancy, namely seeing the fetus via ultrasound and experiencing fetal movement. A consecutive series of primiparae (n = 129) was randomly assigned, at recruitment between 10 and 14 weeks menstrual age, to conditions of high (n = 67) or low (n = 62) feedback real time ultrasound. Thereafter, women were assessed at 16 and 32 weeks gestation, within 24 hours of delivery and by questionnaire at 3 months postpartum. ⋯ At delivery, ratings of attachment to the neonate were related to drug requirements in labor and attachment ratings at 32 weeks. Reactions to the neonate at delivery and ratings of postpartum mood emerged as significant predictors of maternal attachment at 3 months postpartum. These results are discussed in the context of research attempting to establish the importance of postpartum bonding.