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Parents’ Interpersonal Distance and Touch Behavior and Child Pain and Distress during Painful Pediatric Oncology Procedures

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Abstract

Children with cancer and their parents report that treatment-related procedures are more traumatic and painful than cancer itself. Competing hypotheses have emerged regarding relations between parents’ social support and child pain and distress. Little is known about caregivers’ use of nonverbal immediacy behaviors that may function as social support messages. This study describes caregivers’ interpersonal distance and touch behaviors during painful pediatric oncology procedures and examines relations between those behaviors and children’s pain and distress. Caregivers’ total touch time and instrumental (task-oriented) touch time, but not supportive touch time, during the actual procedure covaried with children’s procedural pain and distress.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Communication and Behavioral Oncology, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, 540 HWCRC, 4100 John R., Detroit, MI, 48201, USA

    Amy M. Peterson, Rebecca J. W. Cline, Tanina S. Foster, Louis A. Penner, Christine M. Keller, Michael C. Naughton & Terrance L. Albrecht

  2. Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA

    Rebecca J. W. Cline, Louis A. Penner & Terrance L. Albrecht

  3. Department of Communication Arts & Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, Sparks Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Roxanne L. Parrott

  4. Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, USA

    Jeffrey W. Taub

  5. Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA

    Jeffrey W. Taub

  6. Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit, USA

    John C. Ruckdeschel

  7. Division of Internal Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA

    John C. Ruckdeschel

Authors
  1. Amy M. Peterson
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  2. Rebecca J. W. Cline
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  3. Tanina S. Foster
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  4. Louis A. Penner
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  5. Roxanne L. Parrott
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  6. Christine M. Keller
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  7. Michael C. Naughton
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  8. Jeffrey W. Taub
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  9. John C. Ruckdeschel
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  10. Terrance L. Albrecht
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amy M. Peterson.

Additional information

This research was conducted as part of a larger investigation funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute, “Parental Role in Pediatric Cancer Pain and Survivorship” (NCI R01 CA100027), Terrance L. Albrecht, PI. The authors wish to thank Ellen Jones for her efforts.

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Peterson, A.M., Cline, R.J.W., Foster, T.S. et al. Parents’ Interpersonal Distance and Touch Behavior and Child Pain and Distress during Painful Pediatric Oncology Procedures. J Nonverbal Behav 31, 79–97 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-007-0023-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-007-0023-9

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