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Updated: Nov 22, 2025

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Self-distancing in Young Children
Published on: March 1, 2019
Influence of parent-provided distraction and interactive distraction with a handheld video game on the child's
Sravani Ega1, Sivakumar Nuvvula2, Sreekanth Kumar Mallineni3
1Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Narayana Dental College and Hospital, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Background:
To evaluate the influence of parent-provided distraction (PPD) and interactive distraction (ID) with a handheld video game (HVG) on the child's responses to local anesthesia (LA) administration during dental treatment.
Methods:
Children attending the department of pediatric dentistry were randomly selected and distributed to the two groups (PPD and an ID with HVG). Parents in the operatory and the principles of tell-show-do remained common in both the groups. Behavioral, physiological, and self-report measures of pain were estimated using the Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability (FLACC) scale, pulse rate, as well as Iowa pain thermometer-revised (IPT-R) scale and compared for both groups correspondingly. The SPSS (standard statistical package) version 17.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA) was used for statistical analysis at the significance of P < 0.05.
Results:
A total of 30 children (15 in each group) aged 7-11 years participated in the study. There were no significant differences observed among boys and girls (P > 0.05). The independent t-test for the pulse rate showed no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). Paired t-test for pulse rate in the PPD group showed a significant difference compared to ID with the HVG group (P < 0.05). The scores for FLACC and ID with HVG, showed a statistically significant decrease in scores recorded for ID with HVG, whereas the scores recorded for FLACC did not show any statistically significant difference.
Conclusion:
Based on the study results, PPD would be the least distressful option, compared to the ID with HVG in children while administering LA.
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