Evaluating the Effects of a Virtual Environment (STARBRIGHT World) with Hospitalized Children

Gary Holden, David J. Bearison, Diane C. Rode, Gary Rosenberg, Merri Fishman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The objective was to pilot test the impact of STARBRIGHT World(SBW) - a virtual environment for seriously iII, hospitalized children. The impact of SBW was assessed with a series of nine replicated single system designs. The outcomes were children's pain intensity, pain aversiveness, and anxiety. The results were aggregated using meta-analysis. At the individual child level, 6 of 27 contrasts between the two conditions reached significance. Overall, there was a trend for the later participants to report greater impact in the SBW condition and this appeared to parallel the increase in the SBW system's functionality. When the results were combined meta-analytically, the combined p value was less than .05 for pain intensity and pain aversiveness and slightly greater than .05 for anxiety. This study provided modest support for the effectiveness of SBW and demonstrates the use of meta-analysis with single system designs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)365-382
Number of pages18
JournalResearch on Social Work Practice
Volume9
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1999

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • General Psychology

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