Maintenance effects of coping skills and sensory information on young children's response to repeated dental procedures

Abstract

The maintenance of the stress reduction procedures of teaching specific coping skills or providing sensory information about the dental experience was investigated in preschool-aged (42 to 71 months) children using 26 of the children studied by Siegel and Peterson (1980) . The child's response to the dental sessions was measured by behavioral, physiological, and self-report measures during a diagnostic session and during dental sessions. After the diagnostic session, each child was seen individually for one brief intervention period. Results reported in the original study indicated that both experimental preparation strategies were significantly more effective than the control preparation in reducing disruptive and uncooperative behavior ratings of anxiety and discomfort, and physiological arousal immediately following preparation. Furthermore, the present results indicate that these reductions were maintained in both experimental groups during a second dental treatment session approximately 1 week after preparation. There were no differences in effectiveness between experimental groups.