Influence of Adapted Environment on the Anxiety of Medically Treated Children with Developmental Disability

Objectives

To examine the influence of a sensory adapted environment (SAE) on the behavior and arousal levels of children with developmental disability in comparison with typical children, during a stress-provoking medical situation.

Study design

Sixteen children (6-11 years old) with developmental disability and 19 age-matched typical children participated in a cross-over trial measuring behavioral and psychophysiological variables, performed during a dental intervention.

Results

Both groups performed better in the SAE compared with the regular environment (RE), by comparing: the mean duration of anxious behaviors in the SAE and RE (5.26 and 13.56 minutes; P ≤ .001); the mean electrodermal activity for arousal levels, before commencement of treatment in the SAE and RE (784 and 349 Kohms; P = .002); and the mean electrodermal activity during treatment in the SAE and RE (830 and 588 Kohms; P = .001). A significant group by environment interaction was revealed, indicating that the difference in the 2 environments was greater in children with developmental disability than typical children in all 3 measures.

Conclusions

These findings indicate the importance of environment in determining the comfort level of all children. The greater difference in the 2 environments observed in children with developmental disability suggests that this group benefits more from sensory adapted environments.

Abbreviations: EDA, Electrodermal activity, NDBC, Negative dental behavior checklist, RE, Regular environment, SAE, Sensory adapted environment