Trajectories of Distress Regulation During Preschool Vaccinations: Child and Caregiver Predictors

Recent research has highlighted the need for a deeper understanding of the heterogeneity in trajectories of childrens distress following acute pain exposure, moving beyond group means of behavioural pain scores at a single timepoint. During preschool vaccinations, three distinct patterns of post-vaccination pain regulation have been elucidated, with approximately 75% of children down-regulating to no distress by two minutes post-needle and 25% concerningly failing to down-regulate to no distress by two-minutes (Waxman et al., 2017). The objective of the present study was to examine child and caregiver predictors of preschool childrens post-vaccination regulatory patterns. Our results indicated that child baseline distress, caregiver coping-promoting verbalizations in the first minute following the needle, and caregiver distress- and coping- promoting verbalizations in the second minute following the needle predicted the likelihood of a child displaying a trajectory pattern. Further, childrens pain-related distress at various timepoints throughout the appointment was predicted by different factors depending on the trajectory that they exhibited. This research highlights the importance of considering the heterogeneity of trajectories of preschool pain responding when examining the factors that are associated with childrens pain-related distress.

Author dc:creator

• Starkman Shiff, Ilana Rebecca

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Riddell, Rebecca

• Psychology

Statement dc:rights

• Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10315/38641

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:yorkspace.library.yorku.ca:10315/38641