| Summary: | Differences in perceived acceptability of treatments has
been proposed as a means for explaining why recommended
treatments are often not implemented or poorly utilized.
Although treatment acceptability research has identified the
acceptability of numerous psychological interventions and the
variables influencing these evaluations, the construct of
acceptability, its theoretical basis, and extent of
generalizability has had minimal attention. To address these
concerns, a series of four studies examined the acceptability of
psychological and pharmacological interventions for the
alleviation of pediatric pain and distress associated with
invasive medical procedures. A conceptual model of treatment
acceptability, adopted from a model of health beliefs, provided a
framework for conceptualizing acceptability attitudes and how
these attitudes may be formed and changed.
In Studies 1 and 2, an acceptability measure (AQ)
appropriate for the evaluation of interventions for pediatric
pain and distress was developed. Undergraduate students,
presented with written descriptions of six different pain
management interventions as applied to a child having difficulty
coping with a painful medical procedure, rated the acceptability,
predicted effectiveness, and general evaluation of these
interventions as well as anticipated choice and predicted self-efficacy
in implementing the interventions. In Study 3, 63
mothers evaluated the acceptability of one pharmacological and
two psychological interventions designed to reduce pediatric pain
and distress. Study 4 investigated how acceptability attitudes
are influenced by experience with the effectiveness of an
intervention. Acceptability attitudes of 90 mothers were
assessed before and after exposure to an effective or ineffective
implementation of a pain management intervention or a no
effectiveness information exposure.
Across the studies, results indicated that the AQ
differentiates among interventions and is an internally
consistent and reliable instrument. Accelerative interventions
(imagery, attention-distraction, deep breathing) were evaluated
as more acceptable than reductive interventions (reprimands,
ignoring), and a pharmacological intervention (oral Valium) fell
in the middle range. Providing construct validity, acceptability
attitudes were highly correlated with effectiveness predictions,
general evaluation of the intervention, and anticipated treatment
selection; and modestly correlated with predicted self-efficacy
in implementing the intervention. Study 4 demonstrated that
exposure to an effective implementation of an intervention
improved acceptability attitudes and exposure to an ineffective
implementation resulted in less positive acceptability attitudes.
Acceptability attitudes did not change after exposure to an
implementation of the intervention without effectiveness
information. Suggestions for future research directions and
potential implications for educating potential consumers about
psychological interventions and their effectiveness are
discussed. === Arts, Faculty of === Psychology, Department of === Graduate
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