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Cited by 15Pediatric Pain Management TechniquesFamily Support in IllnessChildhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life

The Effects of Hospital-Based School Lessons on Children’s Emotions, Distress and Pain

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Ciucci, Enrica, Tomberli, Lucrezia, Amore, Elena, Smorti, Andrea, Maffei, Francesca, Vagnoli, Laura·2024·Continuity in Education
DOI 10.5334/cie.118PMC PMC11259103
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Abstract

Lessons conducted in hospitals ensure school continuity for hospitalized children unable to attend regular school. Hospital-based school (HS) provides a tailored experience that ensures normality for children through education. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of the proposed lessons in reducing negative emotions, distress, and pain in children, as well as fostering positive affects. The study was conducted with 32 hospitalized children, aged 8–12 years, in the Onco-Hematology and Pediatric Unit of Meyer Children’s Hospital IRCCS (Florence, Italy). Positive and negative emotions were measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Scale for Children; distress was measured using the Physiological Hyperarousal for Children; pain was measured using the Visual Analogue Scale for children. Variables were assessed before (T0) and after (T1) lessons, for three times; for each variable, collected data were averaged at both T0 and T1. Statistical analyses showed a significant increase in positive emotions in hospitalized children and a significant decrease in negative emotions, distress, and pain; nevertheless, only for pain the significant correlation between its scores before and after the HS lessons indicated that the detected change occurred for all participants in much the same way. These preliminary results suggest that HS lessons can promote hospitalized children’s well-being, at least as far as pain reduction is concerned.

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Ciucci, E., Tomberli, L., Amore, E., Smorti, A., Maffei, F., & Vagnoli, L.
Affiliations
Meyer Children's Hospital (IT)
Corresponding author
Ciucci, Enrica
ORCID
Venue
Continuity in Education
Publisher
Ubiquity Press, Ltd.
Published
2024
Volume
5
Issue
1
Pages
100-110
ISSN
2631-9179 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.5334/cie.118
PMC
PMC11259103
OpenAlex
W4400657669
Cited by
15
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 4
FWCI
10.16
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Continuity in Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Florence Research (University of Florence) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pediatric Pain Management Techniques
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Family Support in Illness
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life
Keywords
children's emotions, distress, pain, biopsychosocial model, educational continuity

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