Distraction is thought to be an effective strategy for coping with pain-produced distress. The purpose of this article is to offer explicit conceptual explanations of why and when distraction will be effective and to review research related to this conceptual scheme. A theoretical case for the effectiveness of distraction is drawn from assumptions about (a) the importance of cognition in mediating the pain experience, and (b) the limited capacity available for focusing attention on different stimulus events. Combining these assumptions led to four principles that were examined with available data. Principle 1: Distraction will reduce distress as compared with uninstructed and placebo control conditions. Principle 2: Distraction techniques that require more attentional capacity will be more effective. Principle 3: Distraction will have stronger effects on pain stimuli of low intensity. Principle 4: Distraction will be more effective than sensation redefinition for mild pain stimuli, but the reverse will be true for intense pain stimuli. The data supported these principles, and this review discusses implications and research necessary for helping persons to cope with pain.

The current investigation assessed the relationship between observed child mealtime behavior, physical activity, selected parent behaviors, and child relative weight. Subjects were 30 (15 male, 15 female) preschool children varying in age from 22 to 46 months (mean = 30.5 months). Each subject and parents were observed during the dinnertime meal with an observational instrument designed to measure children's mealtime behaviors and parental influences on child eating. Further, children's activity levels were assessed for one hour and parental influences on child activity were observed. Results indicated that parental encouragements to eat correlated both with the percent of time the child ate and with child relative weight. Similarly, parental encouragements to be active correlated to extreme levels of child motor activity and negatively to relative weight. Implications of the current study are discussed and the present findings are compared and contrasted with previous research.

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