Coping responses and pain-associated emotions: how parents and their children manage painful episodes in sickle cell disease

The purpose of the study was to explore through interviews and a written questionnaire as to how parents knew when their children were in sickle cell pain and what types of coping strategies they used to abate the pain. Children were interviewed to obtain information as to how they thought their parents knew when they were in pain and what did their parents do when they were in pain. Facial drawings depicting anger, fear, and sadness and a comic book type format depicting African-American children who had pain and one of the above emotions were utilized to stimulate responses. From the interview responses of 22 parents and their children the data were categorized for commonalities. Based on the established categories the responses were coded and tallied. Frequencies of the responses were calculated. The results suggested that parents and children can articulate what cues help them to identify when the child is in pain and what coping strategies they use to help alleviate the childs pain. Emotions may be an integral part of some childrens pain experience