CHILD LIFE CERTIFICATION EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS// (2025/2026 UPDATE)
Emma Plank - ANSWER-In Cleveland, helped create the child life movement in the 50s and 60s
Wrote the book "working with children in hospitals"
Mary Brooks - ANSWER-In Philadelphia, helped create the child life movement in the 50s and
60s
The Association for the Care of Children in Hospitals (1967) - ANSWER-The first organization of
personnel engaged in child life work
All Programs are guided by these two primary objectives - ANSWER-1. to help children cope
with the stress and anxiety of the hospital experience
2. to promote the child's normal growth and development while in the health care setting after
returning hom
Play - ANSWER-It is a mechanism through which children learn, socialize, test their growing
bodies, and, most importantly for hospitalized children, it is a way they cope with the unfamiliar
and express their concerns.
overt or active response - ANSWER-crying, screaming, whining, clinging to parents, resisting
medicine, being self-destructive, being destructive of the environment, fighting
passive response - ANSWER-excessive sleeping
decreased communication
decreased activity
decreased eating
,regressive behavior - ANSWER-alterations in sleeping patterns
eating too much or too little
being tense, anxious, restless
manifesting fears (of hospitals, needles, death, ect.)
being overly concerned with one's body
displaying compulsive behavior
Vernon, Foley, Sipowicz and Schulman (1965) - ANSWER-drawn a distinction between
"immediate response" (behavior manifesting itself during the hospitalization) and "post-hospital
response".
Prugh, Staub, Sands, Kirschbaum and Lenihan (1953) - ANSWER-Study that offers further
evidence that a substantial percentage of children may suffer psychological upset as a result of
hospitalization
Skipper and Leonard (1968) - ANSWER-explored the effects of providing additional information
and support to mothers of hospitalized children
Vernon et al (1965) - ANSWER--support the belief that psychological preparation is an effective
means of reducing post-hospital upset
-found that only four of these determinants had been sufficiently investigated to warrant
summary and conclusion:
unfamiliarity of the hospital setting
separation from parents
age
prehospital experience
,Wolfer and Visintainer (1975) - ANSWER-provided impressive evidence that psychological
preparation is an effective means of lessening the upset of children during hospitalization as
well as after discharge
Johnson, Kirchhoff and Endress (1975) - ANSWER-found that discrepancies between a child's
expectations and the actual physical sensations experiences produce distress in the child
contagion hypothese - ANSWER-parental anxiety is transmitted to the child, who then shows
signs of stress
Castler (1961) - ANSWER-Institutionalized children who suffered stimulus deprivation over
prolonged periods demonstrated profound delay in cognitive, physical, emotional and social
development
Robertson (1958) and Bowlby (1960) - ANSWER-Both describe a series of three stages which
characterize a young child's response to seperation
The 3 Phases of Separation - ANSWER-Protest, despair and detachment
Protest - ANSWER-During this period of acute distress, children cry, scream and kick, all the
while eagerly looking for signs of their parent's return
Despair - ANSWER-If parents do not return, children may enter a period characterized by
"increased hopelessness"
Detachment - ANSWER-In this phase, children appear to be making a recovery, as they once
again become active and interested in their surroundings
, The upset child - ANSWER-The child is calm and quite, until the parents arrive.
The protest by the child is in fact a positive and reassuring sign that the child has not yet slipped
into the phase of detachment from the parents.
The child's interest in material goods - ANSWER-parents are met by an indifferent child, who
shows far more interest in the wrapped package than in the parent who has brought it
The 'highly social' child - ANSWER-allow human beings to come and go without regret
The child reluctant to leave - ANSWER-this represents a child in the detachment phase
Schaffer and Callender (1959) - ANSWER-offer substantiation for the belief that young infants
are less vulnerable than other infants
Kassowitz (1958) and Levy (1960) - ANSWER-found that young infants demonstrated less
response to inoculation prior to the event than did older infants
Campbell (1957) - ANSWER-supports the idea that the "contagion hypothesis" (transmission of
anxiety from parent to child) is operable for young infants
Scarr-Salapatek and Williams (1973) - ANSWER-came to the conclusion that child life workers
should design and implement a stimulation program for young infants to insure maximum
development while hospitalized
Anna Freud (1977) - ANSWER-Hospitalization often requires the child to temporarily yield some
or all of new found skills
Burton (1975) - ANSWER-Although any illness or hospitalization may place a severe stress on the
family system, chronic conditions present their own special hazards
ANSWERS// (2025/2026 UPDATE)
Emma Plank - ANSWER-In Cleveland, helped create the child life movement in the 50s and 60s
Wrote the book "working with children in hospitals"
Mary Brooks - ANSWER-In Philadelphia, helped create the child life movement in the 50s and
60s
The Association for the Care of Children in Hospitals (1967) - ANSWER-The first organization of
personnel engaged in child life work
All Programs are guided by these two primary objectives - ANSWER-1. to help children cope
with the stress and anxiety of the hospital experience
2. to promote the child's normal growth and development while in the health care setting after
returning hom
Play - ANSWER-It is a mechanism through which children learn, socialize, test their growing
bodies, and, most importantly for hospitalized children, it is a way they cope with the unfamiliar
and express their concerns.
overt or active response - ANSWER-crying, screaming, whining, clinging to parents, resisting
medicine, being self-destructive, being destructive of the environment, fighting
passive response - ANSWER-excessive sleeping
decreased communication
decreased activity
decreased eating
,regressive behavior - ANSWER-alterations in sleeping patterns
eating too much or too little
being tense, anxious, restless
manifesting fears (of hospitals, needles, death, ect.)
being overly concerned with one's body
displaying compulsive behavior
Vernon, Foley, Sipowicz and Schulman (1965) - ANSWER-drawn a distinction between
"immediate response" (behavior manifesting itself during the hospitalization) and "post-hospital
response".
Prugh, Staub, Sands, Kirschbaum and Lenihan (1953) - ANSWER-Study that offers further
evidence that a substantial percentage of children may suffer psychological upset as a result of
hospitalization
Skipper and Leonard (1968) - ANSWER-explored the effects of providing additional information
and support to mothers of hospitalized children
Vernon et al (1965) - ANSWER--support the belief that psychological preparation is an effective
means of reducing post-hospital upset
-found that only four of these determinants had been sufficiently investigated to warrant
summary and conclusion:
unfamiliarity of the hospital setting
separation from parents
age
prehospital experience
,Wolfer and Visintainer (1975) - ANSWER-provided impressive evidence that psychological
preparation is an effective means of lessening the upset of children during hospitalization as
well as after discharge
Johnson, Kirchhoff and Endress (1975) - ANSWER-found that discrepancies between a child's
expectations and the actual physical sensations experiences produce distress in the child
contagion hypothese - ANSWER-parental anxiety is transmitted to the child, who then shows
signs of stress
Castler (1961) - ANSWER-Institutionalized children who suffered stimulus deprivation over
prolonged periods demonstrated profound delay in cognitive, physical, emotional and social
development
Robertson (1958) and Bowlby (1960) - ANSWER-Both describe a series of three stages which
characterize a young child's response to seperation
The 3 Phases of Separation - ANSWER-Protest, despair and detachment
Protest - ANSWER-During this period of acute distress, children cry, scream and kick, all the
while eagerly looking for signs of their parent's return
Despair - ANSWER-If parents do not return, children may enter a period characterized by
"increased hopelessness"
Detachment - ANSWER-In this phase, children appear to be making a recovery, as they once
again become active and interested in their surroundings
, The upset child - ANSWER-The child is calm and quite, until the parents arrive.
The protest by the child is in fact a positive and reassuring sign that the child has not yet slipped
into the phase of detachment from the parents.
The child's interest in material goods - ANSWER-parents are met by an indifferent child, who
shows far more interest in the wrapped package than in the parent who has brought it
The 'highly social' child - ANSWER-allow human beings to come and go without regret
The child reluctant to leave - ANSWER-this represents a child in the detachment phase
Schaffer and Callender (1959) - ANSWER-offer substantiation for the belief that young infants
are less vulnerable than other infants
Kassowitz (1958) and Levy (1960) - ANSWER-found that young infants demonstrated less
response to inoculation prior to the event than did older infants
Campbell (1957) - ANSWER-supports the idea that the "contagion hypothesis" (transmission of
anxiety from parent to child) is operable for young infants
Scarr-Salapatek and Williams (1973) - ANSWER-came to the conclusion that child life workers
should design and implement a stimulation program for young infants to insure maximum
development while hospitalized
Anna Freud (1977) - ANSWER-Hospitalization often requires the child to temporarily yield some
or all of new found skills
Burton (1975) - ANSWER-Although any illness or hospitalization may place a severe stress on the
family system, chronic conditions present their own special hazards
