A stress inoculation program for parents whose children are undergoing painful medical procedures.

The efficacy of a stress inoculation intervention program was compared with that of a child-focused intervention program in helping parents cope with their children's painful medical procedures. Ss included 72 parents (79% mothers) of pediatric leukemia patients (aged 3–12 yrs) who were undergoing either bone marrow aspirations (n?=?28) or lumbar punctures (n?=?44). Parents were assessed during a baseline procedure and then were randomly assigned to either a stress inoculation group or a child-focused intervention group. In the child-focused intervention, parents merely observed their child's participation in a cognitive behavior therapy program. Assessment of parents included an observation measure of parent behavior, self-reported measures of anxiety and coping, and physiological measures. Results indicate that parents in the stress inoculation program reported lower anxiety scores and higher positive self-statement scores than did parents in the child-focused intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)