Relations between young children's responses to the depiction of separation and pain experiences

Abstract

This study examined relations between young children's representations of separation and pain experiences in 60, 4- and 5-year-old children. Separation representations were assessed with the Separation Anxiety Test (SAT) and pain representations were assessed by examining responses to pictures of children about to experience pain in the presence of parent figures. Results showed that representations of separation and pain experience were systematically related and the patterns were not accounted for by the child's ability to differentiate emotional states, language ability, or reports of emotional regulation. These findings are consistent with Bowlby's (1982) concept of secure base behaviour in response to a variety of distress, and support the hypothetical construct of an internal working model of attachment which organizes children's behaviours, thoughts, and feelings in response to both separation experience and painful events.

Keywords:

• attachment representation – separation – pain – preschoolers – internal working models

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research was supported by a Postgraduate Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to the first author and a Regular Research Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC) to the second author. The third author is a recipient of the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). The authors thank Dr. R.W. Belter for allowing us to use the Charleston Pediatric Pain Pictures, and Sharon Clark and Tina Knee for help with coding transcripts.