Thematic Section: Interventions in Child Health Psychology

The translation of knowledge generated in research to the professional practice is one of the aims of Pediatric Psychology. This area is conceived as an intersection of several knowledge fields coming from Psychology and sciences that make up the new Pediatrics, including health technology advances (Crepaldi, Linhares, & Perosa, 2006; McQuaid & Spirito, 2012; Robert & Steele, 2009).

This thematic section was organized with this perspective which begins by the Luisa Barros and Klara Greffin’s paper, who are researchers in the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Lisbon. It brings a relevant contribution to Health Psychology, the use of applied technology to parental guidance in the context of health, in the area denominated e-Health (Eysenbach, 2001; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2017). The authors present a scoping review which analyzed more than a hundred prevention and intervention programs based on technology. In Psychology, this is still an open field, especially in our country, therefore this international collaboration could contribute to the knowledge of our readers in this area.

Thereafter, two papers illustrate the possibilities to study psychological intervention in pain, with application in a hospital context and in different age groups, contributing to the area of Pediatric Psychology with knowledge based on evidence (Melnik, Souza, & Carvalho, 2014).

Maria Beatriz Martins Linhares e Cláudia Maria Gaspardo’s paper (Medical Faculty of Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo) presents a research program developed at the Children’s Hospital of the Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto campus, for the study and intervention in the management of neonatal pain. Developmentally focused, the authors defined the pediatric pain and its main characteristics, analyzing the findings about the impact of pain in child development. This highly stressful condition at the beginning of life constitutes a context of toxic stress (Dich et al., 2015; Shonkoff, Garner, Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, & Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 2012). It demands not only pharmacological management of neonatal pain, but non-pharmacological management too, thus expanding the current psychological field in the hospital environment.

In a research conducted with researchers from the Universidade Católica de Vitória, Universidade Católica de Campinas and the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Christyne Gomes Toledo de Oliveira, Sônia Regina Fiorim Enumo and Kely Maria Pereira de Paula, respectively, present an intervention proposal in coping with pain in children with sickle cell disease. Mainly based on Motivational Theory of Coping, the authors developed a psychological intervention program, applied in group or individually, in schooling age children with this hereditary disease. This intervention contains a board game to promote the coping with pain, that pain which is typical of this clinical condition. The results obtained from these children’s sample, in context of outpatient care, indicate that it is a promising intervention, may be adapted to other contexts.

Selection of these high quality studies to make up this thematic section is guided by the purpose to show possibilities and emphasize the necessity and importance of knowledge to support the policies and practices in child health (Shonkoff, Radner, & Foote, 2016). We expect more contributions with this perspective in Estudos de Psicologia (Campinas).

Profa. Dra. Sônia Regina Fiorim Enumo Associate Editor Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, Centro de Ciências da Vida, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia e Programa de Pós- Graduação em Ciências da Saúde Professora Emérita da Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo

References

• Crepaldi, M. A., Linhares, M. B. M., & Perosa, G. B. (2006). Temas em Psicologia Pediátrica. São Paulo: Casa do Psicólogo.
• Dich, N., Hansen, A. M., Avlund, K., Lund, A. R., Mortensen, E. L., Bruunsgaard, H., & Rod, N. H. (2015). Early life adversity potentiates the effects of later life stress on cumulative physiological dysregulation. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping: An International Journal, 28(4), 372-390. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2014.969720
  » https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2014.969720
• Eysenbach, G. (2001). What is e-health? Journal of Medical Internet Research, 3(2), e20. https://doi.org/10.2196/ jmir.3.2.e20
  » https://doi.org/10.2196/ jmir.3.2.e20
• McQuaid, E. L., & Spirito, A. (2012). Integrating research into clinical internship training bridging the science/practice gap in Pediatric Psychology. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 37(2), 149-157. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsr114
  » https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsr114
• Melnik, T., Souza, W. F., & Carvalho, M. R. (2014). A importância da prática da Psicologia baseada em evidências: aspectos conceituais, níveis de evidência, mitos e resistências. Revista Costarricense de Psicología, 33(2), 79-92. Recuperado em maio 8, 2017 de http://rcps-cr.org/wp-content/themes/rcps/descargas/2014/2/0-RCP-Vol.33-No2.pdf
  » http://rcps-cr.org/wp-content/themes/rcps/descargas/2014/2/0-RCP-Vol.33-No2.pdf
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2017). New health technologies: Managing access, value and sustainability. Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264266438-en
  » https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264266438-en
• Robert, M. C., & Steele, R. G. (2009). Handbook of Pediatric Psychology (4th. ed.). New York: The Guilford Press.
• Shonkoff, J. P., Garner, A. S., Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, & Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232-246. https://doi.org/10.1542/ peds.2011-2663
  » https://doi.org/10.1542/ peds.2011-2663
• Shonkoff, J., Radner, J. M., & Foote, N. (2016). Expanding the evidence base to drive more productive early childhood investment. The Lancet, 389(10064), 7-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31702-0
  » https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31702-0

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  Sept 2017