Temperament and behavioral problems of preschool children with headache--a controlled study.

The purpose of this study was to compare differences in temperament and emotional and behavioral problems in a community sample of young children who experience headaches to those without such complaints. The whole sample was comprised 75 non-referred, preschool-aged children (3-5 years old), including 22 with headache complaints and 53 without headaches (control group). The children's headache symptoms were assessed with a questionnaire that was given to the mothers.

Assessment of the behavior of children in painful situations: literature review.

Objective: To analyze the scientific production published between 2001 and 2006 describing studies assessing children in painful situations, with a focus on preschool children.

Sources: Searches were run for empirical articles indexed in electronic databases using the keywords pain assessment and behavior and their equivalents in Portuguese.

Summary Of The Findings: A total of 33 articles were identified, 18 of which were studies of the psychometric properties of instruments for the measurement of pain, while 11 dealt with the application of such instruments and four were studies of intervention procedures for the relief of pain.

Verbal contents expressed by mothers of preterm infants with clinical emotional symptoms.

The aim of the present study was to characterize verbal contents expressed by preterm neonates' mothers during psychological support intervention. The sample was composed by 20 mothers of pre-term and very low birthweight neonates, hospitalized in NICU, allocated into two groups: 10 mothers with emotional clinical symptoms (MECS) and 10 mothers with no symptoms (MNECS), assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The verbal behavior expressed by mothers in the psychological support group was recorded, transcribed and categorized.

Maternal anxiety in the pre- and postnatal period: a literature review.

This study intended to present a systematic review to analyze the empirical studies published between 1998 and 2003 about maternal anxiety in the prenatal and postnatal periods, focusing on pre-term and term births. Nineteen studies were found; six of which evaluated maternal anxiety in the prenatal period, 12 studies evaluated anxiety in mothers in the postnatal period and only one study evaluated maternal anxiety in both periods. The results showed that high levels of maternal anxiety in the prenatal phase were associated with obstetric problems, emotional damages to fetal development, behavioral problems in childhood and adolescence.