Brief interventions and motivational interviewing with children, adolescents, and their parents in pediatric health care settings: a review.

T here is increasing demand for physicians in pediatric settings to address not only the physical but also the psychosocial health of their child and adolescent patients. Brief interventions (BIs), and in particular Motivational interviewing (MI), offer an efficient means of targeting behavioral, developmental, and social problems within the context of pediatric practice. This review addresses the patient-centered care foundation of and empirical support for brief pediatric interventions, including educational and media-based interventions, MI-based prevention and intervention with health risk behaviors, procedural pain control, and adherence to treatment recommendations. In addition, developmental considerations and future directions for BI research in pediatric practice are summarized.