Sequential Variations in the Interactions of Caregivers and Hospitalized Seriously Ill Children and Adolescents

Abstract

The patterns of social interaction between nineteen, seriously ill, hospitalized child and adolescent cancer patients and their caregivers are examined. Conditional probability analyses were used to determine sequences of patient behavior following vocalizations by caregivers at three different phases of a medical treatment regimen. For the intraindividual (single subject) analyses, there were significant sequences of patient behavior following caregiver vocalizations during all three phases of treatment. For the interdividual (group) analyses, there were no differences between phases of treatment in the sequences of patient behavior following caregiver vocalizations. These findings highlight the variability and change in patients' responses to environmental stimuli at different points in treatment.

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