Training children to cope with dental treatment.

Thirty children were randomly assigned to one of three groups prior to receiving dental treatment. One third of the children were assigned to a stressinoculation group, one third to an attention control group, and one third to a no-treatment group. The stress-inoculation group received instruction in relaxation and in positive self-talk. Observations by an individual who was blind to treatment condition revealed that children in the stress-inoculation group exhibited fewer body movements and verbalizations during the dental procedure than children in the control groups, p < .05. The results are interpreted as consistent with several recent experiments showing that very brief psychological interventions can be useful for controlling undesirable reactions to medical and dental procedures.