In pediatric settings, parents and children often seek spiritual and religious support from their healthcare provider, as they try to find meaning in their illness. Narrative practices, such as definitional ceremonies, can provide a unique framework for psychologists to explore children's spirituality and its role in the midst of illness. In addition, definitional ceremonies can be used as a means for psychologists to inform interdisciplinary teams' understanding of children's spirituality and its relevance in pediatric treatment settings. In this article, our objectives are to (a) provide a brief overview of the literature on children's spirituality, (b) review some of the literature on childhood cancer patients' spirituality, (c) highlight the importance of whole-person care for diverse pediatric patients, and (d) introduce definitional ceremonies as appropriate narrative practices that psychologists can use to both guide their therapy and inform interdisciplinary teams' understanding of children's spirituality.

This study found that children with a history of cancer had higher scores on certain measures of spirituality compared to their healthy peers. Health history was found to significantly moderate the relations among spirituality and outcome variables, such as depression and anxiety. Furthermore, parent-child dyads had more highly correlated scores than parent-child dyads on both the Depression subscale and the Existential Well-Being subscale, whereas parent-child dyads had more highly correlated scores than parent-child dyads on the Duality factor. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

This study compared the effectiveness of developmental education for parents with parent education in child management and with a no-education control condition in motivating parents to participate in home treatment programs for developmentally delayed infants. 39 delayed infants, matched for age and severity of delay, and their families were randomly assigned to the 3 treatment groups. The subsequent differential effectiveness of home treatment programs, in terms of the infants' developmental gains, was then examined. Results indicated that the children in the developmental education group gained a greater number of skills, and their parents participated more in the assigned home treatment programs than did parents in the other 2 groups. At follow-up approximately 1 year later, parents who received developmental education continued to participate more than the other parents in their child's treatment program. Developmental education appears to enable parents to discriminate small developmental gains, facilitating the intrinsic motivation involved in working with their children.

This study compared the effectiveness of developmental education for parents with parent education in child management and with a no-education control condition in motivating parents to participate in home treatment programs for developmentally delayed infants. 39 delayed infants, matched for age and severity of delay, and their families were randomly assigned to the 3 treatment groups. The subsequent differential effectiveness of home treatment programs, in terms of the infants' developmental gains, was then examined. Results indicated that the children in the developmental education group gained a greater number of skills, and their parents participated more in the assigned home treatment programs than did parents in the other 2 groups. At follow-up approximately 1 year later, parents who received developmental education continued to participate more than the other parents in their child's treatment program. Developmental education appears to enable parents to discriminate small developmental gains, facilitating the intrinsic motivation involved in working with their children.

Forty‐eight 7‐ to 8‐year‐old children who had been diagnosed prior to 48 months of age as being developmentally motor delayed and had received therapy for their delay were followed up and assessed for motor, intellectual, and psychological development as well as for self‐perceived competence and school achievement. These children were found to be significantly inferior on all of these variables, except for self‐competence, when compared with matched nondelayed controls. Those delayed children who had begun treatment prior to 24 months of age demonstrated significantly greater gains in motor function at follow‐up, had significantly higher IQs, performed better at school, and participated in more peer‐related activities than did the delayed children who began treatment after 24 months. This study supports the hypotheses that (1) young children diagnosed as being developmentally motor delayed demonstrate subsequent intellectual and psychological problems when in the primary grades and (2) that the age at onset of intervention therapy for the delay is significantly related to outcome (benefit of therapy).