Receiving vaccinations is a part of growing up in the United States; however, as necessary as vaccinations are, many children find the process to be frightening and painful. A review of literature indicates that non-pharmacological interventions, such as distraction, are generally effective in reducing pain and anxiety in children receiving injections. Music has been examined as a potential distraction during pediatric medical procedures, but research findings have been mixed, due, in part, to the way in which music was used: the children were primarily instructed to merely \"listen to the music.\" It has been noted that individuals tend to maintain their attention on music more successfully when they are asked to listen for specific elements. The present study sought to determine if a focus of attention activity (pointing at pictures) involving music would affect levels of distress and perceptions of pain in pediatric injection patients. Sixty-four 4- to 6 1/2-year old children receiving routine immunizations were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: musical story, spoken story, or standard care control. Children in the two treatment conditions listened to a recorded story on headphones and pointed at corresponding pictures before, during, and after their injections. Observational data on distress and pain were collected, in addition to the child's self-rating of pain. Participants in the musical story condition tended to be less distressed and report less pain than participants in the spoken story and control conditions, although these differences were not statistically significant. Subsequent analysis indicated that children who received more injections tended to benefit more from the music intervention, in terms of their perceived pain. Implications of the findings are discussed, along with recommendations for future research in the area.
","abstract_html":"<p>Receiving vaccinations is a part of growing up in the United States; however, as necessary as vaccinations are, many children find the process to be frightening and painful. A review of literature indicates that non-pharmacological interventions, such as distraction, are generally effective in reducing pain and anxiety in children receiving injections. Music has been examined as a potential distraction during pediatric medical procedures, but research findings have been mixed, due, in part, to the way in which music was used: the children were primarily instructed to merely "listen to the music." It has been noted that individuals tend to maintain their attention on music more successfully when they are asked to listen for specific elements. The present study sought to determine if a focus of attention activity (pointing at pictures) involving music would affect levels of distress and perceptions of pain in pediatric injection patients. Sixty-four 4- to 6 1/2-year old children receiving routine immunizations were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: musical story, spoken story, or standard care control. Children in the two treatment conditions listened to a recorded story on headphones and pointed at corresponding pictures before, during, and after their injections. Observational data on distress and pain were collected, in addition to the child's self-rating of pain. Participants in the musical story condition tended to be less distressed and report less pain than participants in the spoken story and control conditions, although these differences were not statistically significant. Subsequent analysis indicated that children who received more injections tended to benefit more from the music intervention, in terms of their perceived pain. Implications of the findings are discussed, along with recommendations for future research in the area.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Noguchi, Laura Kayoko"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (M.A.)","degree_level":"Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted","degree_discipline":"Music Therapy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["David E. Wolfe"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2004,"date_issued":"2004-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2004-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:36:35Z","subjects":["Music therapy","Vaccination of children","Arts and Humanities","Music"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/593","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["David E. 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A review of literature indicates that non-pharmacological interventions, such as distraction, are generally effective in reducing pain and anxiety in children receiving injections. Music has been examined as a potential distraction during pediatric medical procedures, but research findings have been mixed, due, in part, to the way in which music was used: the children were primarily instructed to merely \"listen to the music.\" It has been noted that individuals tend to maintain their attention on music more successfully when they are asked to listen for specific elements. The present study sought to determine if a focus of attention activity (pointing at pictures) involving music would affect levels of distress and perceptions of pain in pediatric injection patients. Sixty-four 4- to 6 1/2-year old children receiving routine immunizations were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: musical story, spoken story, or standard care control. Children in the two treatment conditions listened to a recorded story on headphones and pointed at corresponding pictures before, during, and after their injections. Observational data on distress and pain were collected, in addition to the child's self-rating of pain. Participants in the musical story condition tended to be less distressed and report less pain than participants in the spoken story and control conditions, although these differences were not statistically significant. Subsequent analysis indicated that children who received more injections tended to benefit more from the music intervention, in terms of their perceived pain. Implications of the findings are discussed, along with recommendations for future research in the area.
"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["88"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The effect of music versus non-music on focus of attention in pediatric injection patients"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["David E. Wolfe"],"dc:creator":["Noguchi, Laura Kayoko"],"dc:date.available":["2018-06-29T08:51:24Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Receiving vaccinations is a part of growing up in the United States; however, as necessary as vaccinations are, many children find the process to be frightening and painful. A review of literature indicates that non-pharmacological interventions, such as distraction, are generally effective in reducing pain and anxiety in children receiving injections. Music has been examined as a potential distraction during pediatric medical procedures, but research findings have been mixed, due, in part, to the way in which music was used: the children were primarily instructed to merely \"listen to the music.\" It has been noted that individuals tend to maintain their attention on music more successfully when they are asked to listen for specific elements. The present study sought to determine if a focus of attention activity (pointing at pictures) involving music would affect levels of distress and perceptions of pain in pediatric injection patients. Sixty-four 4- to 6 1/2-year old children receiving routine immunizations were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: musical story, spoken story, or standard care control. Children in the two treatment conditions listened to a recorded story on headphones and pointed at corresponding pictures before, during, and after their injections. Observational data on distress and pain were collected, in addition to the child's self-rating of pain. Participants in the musical story condition tended to be less distressed and report less pain than participants in the spoken story and control conditions, although these differences were not statistically significant. Subsequent analysis indicated that children who received more injections tended to benefit more from the music intervention, in terms of their perceived pain. Implications of the findings are discussed, along with recommendations for future research in the area.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/593"],"dc:rights":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:source":["88"],"dc:subject":["Music therapy","Vaccination of children","Arts and Humanities","Music"],"dc:title":["The effect of music versus non-music on focus of attention in pediatric injection patients"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Music Therapy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Pacific Access Restricted"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:36:35Z"}