Saturday, April 2, 2005
Hall of Mirrors (Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza)
Session: 1219, Poster Session I, 11:00 AM

Development of a Scale to Measure the Quality of Parent Distraction Coaching

Ann Marie McCarthy, FAAN, PhD, RN, Associate Professor1, Charmaine Kleiber, FAAN, PhD, MSN, RN, Associate Professor2, Kirsten Hanrahan, MSN, RN, Project Director3, and Latisha Meyers, BSN3. (1) Educational Psychology, University of Iowa, Newton Rd, Iowa City, IA 52242, (2) College of Nursing, University of Iowa, Newton Rd, Iowa City, IA 52242, (3) Pediatric Nursing, University of Iowa, Newton Rd, Iowa City, IA 52242

BACKGROUND Parents are often trained as distraction coaches to help their children during medical procedures. The effectiveness of parent distraction coaching is usually measured by the frequency of distraction behavior. However, effectiveness of distraction may be influenced by the quality of distraction coaching. A measure of the quality of distraction coaching is needed to evaluate the treatment integrity and effectiveness of distraction coaching.

PURPOSE A multi-site research project is being conducted with parents as distraction coaches. This poster describes the process of development and validation of an observation rating scale to measure the quality of parents’ distraction coaching.

METHODS AND DESIGN The development and validation process includes three-steps. 1) Nine researchers/clinicians, using nominal group technique, generated and refined a comprehensive list of behavioral indicators characteristic of quality distraction coaching. 2) Focus group methodology was used to conceptually group the behaviors into a scale with five domains, each with multiple behavioral indicators, and weighted values for each domain. Concept definition was guided by Kahnemen’s "limited capacity for attention" theory and Lollins & Kuczynoski’s "bidirectionality of parent-child relationships" theory. 3) Construct validity is being evaluated through use of the scale with "known groups". Videotapes (n=20) of two groups (Expert Coaches: Child Life Specialist & Novice Coaches: untrained parents) will be scored with the scale by two independent coders blinded to the level of expertise. Inter-rater reliabilities will be calculated.

RESULTS The following will be presented: 1) 40 behaviors characteristic of quality distraction 2) Behaviors grouped into Five Domains: sensitive to child’s development, sensitive to child’s cues, focus on distraction, effort to engage child in distraction, encourages child to use distraction 3) Construct validity and reliability testing results

Session #1219 - Poster Session I

The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)