When you hear a young child cry in response to a needle, it is often easier for people to normalize their experience of fear. Though what about when you're 13, or 17, and you're still experiencing intense fear? Now there's a second layer on top of the fear, the worry that you shouldn't be feeling it at all. Is this normal? Am I the only one? What will others think? And for the caregivers who support these youth, there may be questions too. How much support do I provide? How can I let my youth take more action? And how?
Those questions are at the heart of Emma Truffyn’s research. A PhD candidate in the University of Guelph’s Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology program, Truffyn works under the supervision of Dr. C. Meghan McMurtry in the Pediatric Pain, Health, and Communication Lab.
Truffyn has been involved in needle fear research across the lifespan, including educational resource development to help manage needle-related fear, fainting, and pain for children and adults, with her dissertation addressing the gap in accessible interventions for adolescents. Emma’s research has been funded by the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies. She was awarded the John Vanderkamp Magisteriate Graduate Medal from the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences at U of G.
“Am I too old to be scared?”
“I was in the room when my adolescent cousin received a needle,”Truffyn recalled. “She was scared, tearful, and partway through, she turned to her mom, and asked: “Am I too old to be scared?”
“I knew that question. I had asked myself some version of it at her age, though had never found a good answer” Truffyn said . “As a teen, I did not know that 20-50% of adolescents experience some level of needle fear, and that about 5-10% experience what we refer to as high levels of needle fear.”
Needle procedures are a critical part of healthcare, but fear can make routine procedures feel overwhelming. For many adolescents – and their caregivers supporting them – the question becomes “What can I do?”
So, what can I do?
As an aspiring clinical-health psychologist, Truffyn has enjoyed bridging together her research interests with her clinical work, where she has had the privilege of supporting youth and their caregivers directly with needle fear. In the Pediatric Pain, Health, and Communication Lab, we know that evidence-based strategies exist to help manage needle-related fear, pain, and dizziness/fainting. Truffyn’s dissertation aims to make those strategies actionable for high needle fear.
Together with Dr. McMurtry and other experts in needle fear, including Dr. Anna Taddio, Truffyn and the team developed a series of workbooks tailored to and informed by feedback from adolescents, caregivers, and clinicians (e.g., mental health and needle providers) to help manage needle related fear, pain, and dizziness/fainting.
As part of this research, they want to know more about adolescents’ experience of needle fear, pain, and dizziness/fainting, before and after using the workbooks, what they learned, and their general feedback on the workbooks.
The opportunity to investigate the implementation of a free, developmentally-appropriate set of workbooks tailored to adolescents and their caregivers is exciting for Truffyn, especially since many families face barriers to seeking treatment - financial, stigma-related, and access to trained mental health clinicians, among others.
What can you do?
If you are interested in learning more about what you can do to face your fear of needles, Truffyn and her colleagues invite adolescents (12-18) experiencing moderate to high levels of needle fear, pain, and/or fainting and/or their caregivers to review and use our workbooks.
Participants can see if they are eligible to participate in one of three ways:
- Adolescents and caregivers can participate together
- Adolescents can participate on their own (adolescents 12-17 require caregiver consent)
- Caregivers can participate on their own
All participants must live in Canada or the USA, have access to technology for a virtual interview, and speak/read English fluently.
As a final note, Truffyn confidently stated, “I don't know if anyone answered my cousin's question that day in that office. But it's the question I've built a dissertation around, and the answer is no - you're not too old, and you're not alone.
About the program
The Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (CCAP) PhD program holds accreditation from the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), signalling that the training meets the standards the broader psychology community considers essential for professional practice. A scientist-practitioner model anchors the curriculum, with coursework, research, and practica combining to develop trainees as both competent clinicians and researchers, preparing them for internship and registration.