This paper provides an overview of cognitive-behavioural interventions in pediatric behavioural medicine. Although the literature so far is sparse, the contribution of cognitive-behavioural therapy is reviewed in the areas of pediatric cancer, asthma, and diabetes mellitus. The future potential of cognitive-behavioural therapy for the management of other chronic conditions, including cystic fibrosis and rheumatoid arthritis, is recommended.

Blood-injection-injury phobia involves stimulus-bound fear and faintness. The present paper outlines a program of research that has been investigating the nature of symptoms elicited by these stimuli. The structure of the symptoms and their heritability is examined, and it is speculated that the symptoms may form a triphasic response of anticipatory anxiety, stimulus-bound fear, and faintness. The treatments for blood-injury-injection phobia are examined, and data suggesting ways to improve existing treatments are outlined.

This paper examines the clinical entity of obsessional indecision. It argues for its conceptualisation as a form of “pure” obsessional disorder and discusses assessment issues and proposed intervention techniques. Data gathered from four patients treated by the authors is used to substarniate the arguments and points made. The paper illustrates the nature of the problem, as well as highlighting its varying topography and elucidating a novel treatment package that appears to show promise.

Four self-management exercises completed by advanced psychology students as part of their course of instruction are summarised. The cases illustrate the level of sophistication of clinical replications that can be attempted in a semester unit. These cases were chosen because they targeted long-standing serious problems which none of the students thought would be responsive to behavioural-cognitive techniques applied by themselves. The problems were nocturnal bruxism, excessive urinary frequency, unassertiveness, and dog phobia. All were successful in meeting the initial therapeutic objectives that had been set, but gains were not maintained in the cases of bruxism and excessive urinary frequency. The value and problems associated with self-management exercises as a teaching tool are discussed.

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the revised Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS-C; Joiner, Catanzaro & Laurent, 1996) in 228 nonclinical children and adolescents aged between 8 and 15 years. The results revealed that the PANAS-C possesses high internal consistency and encouraging convergent validity, as demonstrated by correlations with the theoretically related constructs of Neuroticism and Extraversion. Construct validity was supported through confirmatory factor analysis, which revealed a two dimensional structure comprising Negative and Positive Affect. Divergent validity was confirmed by the nonsignificant correlation between positive and negative affect. Thus, the PANAS-C was demonstrated to have good reliability and validity, subject to minor changes in item content.