GOING TO THE DOCTOR: A DEVELOPMENTAL STUDY OF STRESS AND COPING

Summary Children's emotional responses and coping behavior were observed during pediatric examinations. Facial expressions of emotion were coded every 30 sec. Behavior records were coded according to the APPROACH system; from these, proportions of three categories of coping behavior (Information, Comfort and Autonomy) were calculated. Results showed the effect of age (6–12 months; 18–36 months; 42–60 months) and time period (before, during or after the examination) on children's levels of negative emotion. Use of specific coping categories at each time period varied with age. The data also suggested some contingent relationships between facial emotions and coping categories.