Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Studies were included in the review if they met the following criteria:
1. Inclusion of children or adolescents with the relevant target illness.
2. Administration of a psychological intervention in an attempt to affect physical symptoms directly.
Study designs were predominantly between participants, but also included a number of within-participants and single case designs.
Specific interventions included in the review
Asthma:
1. Relaxation; 5 to 6 sessions of Jacobsonian progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) lasting from 20 to 60 minutes.
2. Biofeedback; 3 to 9 sessions of biofeedback (sometimes in conjunction with PMR) over a 3 to 8 week period. The number of sessions ranged from 1 to 3 per week, and each session lasted between 10 and 30 minutes.
3. Family therapy; 2 to 21 sessions.
Diabetes:
1. Psychoanalysis; 3- to 5-weekly sessions over a 15- to 148-week period.
2. Social skills training; 10 to 15 sessions, 2 to 5 times per week.
3. Stress-management; 13 group sessions (10 over 12 weeks then 3- monthly sessions).
Cancer:
1. Imagery with suggestion; 1 to 3 (5 to 40 minute) sessions before chemotherapy course.
2. Distraction and relaxation; 1 session before first or each chemotherapy course.
3. Video games; 1 or 2, 10 minute access sessions to video games.
Participants included in the review
Children and adolescents (4 to 19 years) with relevant target illness, i.e. asthma, diabetes or cancer.
Outcomes assessed in the review
Primary outcomes for each illness were as follows:
1. Asthma; peak expiratory flow rate and forced expiratory volume.
2. Diabetes; urine glucose content and haemoglobin A1c levels.
3. Cancer; nausea and vomiting.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors do not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many of the reviewers performed the selection.