The development and evaluation of the paediatric index of emotional distress (PI-ED).

Purpose: Current measures of anxiety and depression for children and young people (CYP) include somatic symptoms and can be lengthy. They can inflate scores in cases where there is also physical illness, contain potentially distressing symptoms for some settings and be impractical in clinical practice. The present study aimed to develop and evaluate a new questionnaire, the paediatric index of emotional distress (PI-ED), to screen for emotional distress in CYP, modelled on the hospital anxiety and depression scale.

The Classification of Soiling and Encopresis and a Possible Treatment Protocol.

Background:   It is proposed that the classification of paediatric bowel elimination disorders is central to their effective treatment.

Method:   By separating the terms soiling and encopresis and clearly defining the aetiologies behind both, a treatment pathway begins to emerge.

Results:   The theoretical model described suggests that encopresis may require only psychological management, whereas soiling (caused by constipation) is more complex, and although it needs medical management, it may or may not require psychological input.

Children's views of hospitalization: an exploratory study of data collection.

Identifying children's views of their experience of hospitalization is essential to the development of appropriate services. Previous research has mainly concentrated on specific paediatric populations or negative aspects of their experience. This study had two aims.