St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Can reassurance hurt?

Thumbnail
View/Open
GMH4_Can_reassurance_hurt.pdf (73.79Kb)
Date
11/2014
Author
Zhou, Yuefang
Humphris, Gerald Michael
Keywords
R Medicine
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
Can you remember how many times your dentist has reassured you, for example, during an anaesthetic injection? Do you suspect that the phrase from the dentist ‘It won’t hurt’ only serves as a warning that it is going to be painful, even though the dentist appears very genuine in their remark? Have you tried to reassure your child or a family member, for example, in the waiting room before an injection? Perhaps you wonder whether the ‘don’t worry’ type of reassurance has much of an effect in reducing the anxiety of your loved ones. As you do your best to promote comfort or reduce distress, maybe you ponder whether it would be more effective to use reassuring statements more frequently, over a longer period of time or at key moments? What other factors might influence the effect of reassurance provision to reduce patient anxiety? For example, does reassurance benefit only the anxious rather than the non-anxious child? Will the nature of the procedure (painful or non-painful) make a difference? These questions form the focus of this article. We will review the evidence on the counterintuitive link between adult reassurance and child distress from the pain management literature to procedures of a less aversive nature. We will also highlight the latest research including appropriate timing of reassurance provision in reducing child distress.
Citation
Zhou , Y & Humphris , G M 2014 , ' Can reassurance hurt? ' , Psychologist , vol. 27 , no. 11 , pp. 842-845 .
Publication
Psychologist
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0952-8229
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2014. The British Psychological Society. This is the accepted version of the following article: Can reassurance hurt? Zhou, Y. & Humphris, G. M. Nov 2014 In : Psychologist. 27, 11, p. 842-845, which has been published in final form at http://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-27/edition-11/can-reassurance-hurt
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URL
http://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-27/edition-11/can-reassurance-hurt
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/6616

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter