Adult judgments of children’s pain and fear during venipuncture: The impact of adult and child sex

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive summary of questionnaire measures.

Questionnaire	Mean	SD	Potential range	Observed range
Trait Anxiety^a	36.11	8.77	20–80	20–68
Parental Pain Catastrophizing^b	20.84	8.63	0–52	2–45
Dispositional Empathy^c
Perspective Taking	18.91	4.52	0–28	6–28
Fantasy	14.17	5.60	0–28	1–27
Empathic Concern	20.89	4.23	0–28	8–28
Personal Distress	8.04	4.94	0–28	0–27

^aScores for trait anxiety were measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults.

^bScores for parental pain catastrophizing were measured using the Pain Catastrophizing Scale for Parents.

^cScores for dispositional empathy were measured using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index.

Table 2. Summary of pain and fear ratings self-reported by children in the video clips by child sex.

Participant sex	Pain level	FPS-R	CFS
Female	None	0	0
Female	None	0	0
Female	None	0	0
Female	Low	2	1
Female	Low	4	1
Female	Medium	6	2
Female	Medium	6	1
Female	Medium	8	2
Female	High	10	4
Female	High	10	1
Male	None	0	0
Male	None	0	0
Male	Low	2	0
Male	Low	2	0
Male	Low	4	1
Male	Medium	6	3
Male	Medium	8	1
Male	High	10	3
Male	High	10	3
Male	High	10	0

FPS-R = Faces Pain Scale–Revised; CFS = Children’s Fear Scale.

Table 3. Mean percentage (and standard deviations) of accurate participants’ judgments of children’s pain and fear by adult and child sex.

	Pain			Fear
Child sex	Women	Men	Combined	Women	Men	Combined
Boy	34.63 (15.65)	35.51 (14.38)	35.06 (15.00)	42.19 (14.66)	42.44 (15.13)	42.31 (14.85)
Girl	25.73 (13.15)	25.26 (13.55)	25.50 (13.31)	36.71 (13.34)	34.87 (13.17)	35.81 (13.24)

Table 4. Mean percentage (and standard deviations) of participants’ underestimation and overestimation of children’s pain and fear by child sex.

	Pain		Fear
Child sex	Underestimation	Overestimation	Underestimation	Overestimation
Boy	59.06 (22.69)	25.27 (18.77)	29.25 (16.92)	43.06 (16.75)
Girl	64.37 (19.69)	36.80 (17.13)	27.41 (15.61)	50.00 (16.39)