Relative importance of mothers' versus medical staffs' behavior in the prediction of infant immunization pain behavior.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relative importance of mothers' versus medical staffs' behavior in the prediction of infant pain during routine immunization.


METHODS
We video-recorded 60 infants' 6- or 18-month immunizations. Recordings were used to code infant pain behavior using the Neonatal Facial Action Coding System (NFCS, R. V. E. Grunau & K. D. Craig, 1987), and maternal and staff vocalizations using the Child-Adult Medical Procedure Interaction Scale-Revised (CAMPIS-R, R. L. Blount, J. W. Sturges, & S. W. Powers, 1990).


RESULTS
Maternal and staff vocalizations showed different patterns of relation with infant pain behavior, depending upon the type of vocalization. Mothers' distress-promoting behavior (e.g., reassurance) predicted increased infant pain behavior, while staffs' coping-promoting behavior (e.g., distraction) predicted decreased infant pain behavior.
Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada. pmcgrath@is.dal.ca
S D
SD
Sweet
P J
PJ
McGrath
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009674:Nova Scotia; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012044:Regression Analysis