Exploring Intervention Pathways for Children’s Medical Fear: A Cognitive Behavioral Perspective

This study aims to conduct an in-depth analysis of children’s medical fear to mitigate its negative impacts on children’s physical and mental health as well as treatment outcomes. By comprehensively applying literature research, case analysis, and other methods, this study systematically examines the four major sources of children’s medical fear from a cognitive-behavioral perspective, including pain expectation, sense of loss of control, unfamiliar environment, and past trauma. Based on cognitive-behavioral theory, an intervention path encompassing cognitive interventions (such as cognitive restructuring and cognitive education) and behavioral interventions (such as systematic desensitization and exposure therapy) is proposed, and the differences in interventions for children of different age groups are explored. The research finds that this intervention path has significant application potential and is expected to play an important role in clinical practice and the promotion of children’s mental health, providing effective guidance for improving children’s medical experience and treatment compliance.