Search research articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

Reducing infant immunization distress through distraction.

Lindsey L Cohen¹

¹Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown 26506-6040, USA. lindsey.cohen@mail.wvu.edu

Health Psychology : Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association

|April 13, 2002

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Trajectories of well-being in children with gastrointestinal conditions and their parents during the first three years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Psychology, health & medicine·2026

Same author

Chronic pain lived experience of pediatric sickle cell disease: A qualitative study.

Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association·2025

Same author

The Relations Among GI Symptoms, Mental Health, and Online Schooling for Youth With GI Conditions During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP·2025

Same author

Novel multimodal mechanical stimulation is superior to TENS to treat and prevent chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.

Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)·2025

Same author

Preventing opioid prescribing for low back pain using multimodal mechanical stimulation vs. TENS: a randomized-controlled trial.

Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)·2025

Same author

Changes in acute care use among people with sickle cell disease after adoption of a prescription drug monitoring program.

Blood advances·2025

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Nurse-directed distraction effectively reduced infant behavioral distress during immunizations. While observational data showed success, parent/nurse ratings and heart rate were inconclusive, indicating distraction

Area of Science:

Child Health Psychology
Pediatric Nursing
Infant Behavioral Science

Background:

Infant procedural distress during healthcare is understudied.
There is a lack of evidence-based interventions for managing infant distress.
Immunization is a common source of acute distress for infants.

Purpose of the Study:

To examine the efficacy of nurse-directed distraction in reducing infant distress during immunization.
To evaluate the impact of distraction on infant behavioral responses, parent/nurse ratings, and heart rate.

Main Methods:

Randomized controlled trial with 90 infants and their parents.
Intervention group: nurses used distraction techniques.
Control group: received typical care during immunization procedures.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

Infants actively engaged with distraction stimuli.
Distraction significantly reduced observed infant behavioral distress.
Parent/nurse ratings and infant heart rate data were inconclusive.

Conclusions:

Nurse-directed distraction is a promising intervention for mitigating infant behavioral distress during immunizations.
Further research is needed to clarify the physiological and subjective effects of distraction.
Infant distress during injections is acute but transient.