CHILD LIFE CERTIFICATION ACTUAL EXAM
PAPER 2026 QUESTIONS SOLUTIONS GRADED
A+
◉ As members of the healthcare team, how do child life specialists
accurately and consistently share assessment information and care
plans with other healthcare team members? Answer: documentation
◉ Components of assessment Answer: information from the family,
information from the child, and information from the healthcare
team
◉ Kubler-Ross's stages of grief Answer: denial, anger, bargaining,
depression, and acceptance
◉ culture shock Answer: results when a series of disorienting
encounters occur in which an individual's basic values, beliefs, and
patterns of behavior are challenged by a different set of values,
beliefs, and behaviors
◉ Cross cultural competency can be demonstrated by Answer:
managing culture shock
,◉ Various Models of Assessment Answer: 1. Stress Potential
Assessment Process
2. Psychosocial Risk Assessment in Pediatrics (PRAP)
3. Child Life Assessment Intervention Plan (CLAIP)
4. Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP)
◉ Stress Potential Assessment Process Answer: - encourages the
CLS to formulate a care plan based on the consideration of 3
categories of information: healthcare, family, and child variables
- CLS then assigns a stress potential rating (1 to 5)
- draws upon knowledge of child development and family systems
functioning with added healthcare stressors to assign a rating
- developed by Gaynard (1998)
◉ Psychosocial Risk Assessment in Pediatrics (PRAP) Answer: -
formal screening tool to assess a patient's risk for coping during a
particular intervention or healthcare encounter
- assigns a risk level based on empirical evidence using eight
variables that closely correlate with the potential for negative
outcomes during healthcare encounters
◉ Child Life Assessment Intervention Plan (CLAIP) Answer: -
provides specific criteria for assessing patients and prioritizing their
needs, and delineates forms of child life intervention that address
the identified needs of the individual.
,- begins w/ consideration of critical psychosocial variables (9) that
have been found to predict psychological upset in children
experiencing healthcare
◉ Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP) Answer: - formal
assessment that has been validated in infant, toddler, and preschool
versions, and includes assessment of multiple domains: cognitive,
language, gross motor, fine motor, social-emotional, self-help,
regulatory, and sensory.
- relies heavily on parent report
◉ Documentation of a child life intervention in a patient healthcare
record should be considered Answer: an extension of the
intervention that is necessary to regard it as complete
◉ Types of coping techniques/strategies Answer: sensory, cognitive,
behavioral
◉ sensory coping strategies Answer: rely on sound, touch, or
movement to enhance the child's coping capacities
◉ types of sensory coping strategies Answer: - positioning (comfort
hold, swaddling)
- movement (rocking or patting)
- soothing touch massage
, - thermal regulation (warm blankets or cold packs)
- music
◉ cognitive coping strategies Answer: approaches that include those
that help reframe or refocus thoughts from negative to positive
◉ Types of cognitive coping strategies Answer: - conscious choice of
alternate focus (distraction)
- thought stopping self-instruction (self-talk)
- therapeutic storytelling
- intellectualization (information seeking)
- reframing
- spirituality or prayer
- humor
- imagery
- hypnotherapy (magic glove)
◉ behavioral coping strategies Answer: introduce behaviors that are
compatible with the successful completion of the threatening event
◉ Types of behavioral coping strategies Answer: - relaxation
techniques (deep breathing)
- muscle relaxation
PAPER 2026 QUESTIONS SOLUTIONS GRADED
A+
◉ As members of the healthcare team, how do child life specialists
accurately and consistently share assessment information and care
plans with other healthcare team members? Answer: documentation
◉ Components of assessment Answer: information from the family,
information from the child, and information from the healthcare
team
◉ Kubler-Ross's stages of grief Answer: denial, anger, bargaining,
depression, and acceptance
◉ culture shock Answer: results when a series of disorienting
encounters occur in which an individual's basic values, beliefs, and
patterns of behavior are challenged by a different set of values,
beliefs, and behaviors
◉ Cross cultural competency can be demonstrated by Answer:
managing culture shock
,◉ Various Models of Assessment Answer: 1. Stress Potential
Assessment Process
2. Psychosocial Risk Assessment in Pediatrics (PRAP)
3. Child Life Assessment Intervention Plan (CLAIP)
4. Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP)
◉ Stress Potential Assessment Process Answer: - encourages the
CLS to formulate a care plan based on the consideration of 3
categories of information: healthcare, family, and child variables
- CLS then assigns a stress potential rating (1 to 5)
- draws upon knowledge of child development and family systems
functioning with added healthcare stressors to assign a rating
- developed by Gaynard (1998)
◉ Psychosocial Risk Assessment in Pediatrics (PRAP) Answer: -
formal screening tool to assess a patient's risk for coping during a
particular intervention or healthcare encounter
- assigns a risk level based on empirical evidence using eight
variables that closely correlate with the potential for negative
outcomes during healthcare encounters
◉ Child Life Assessment Intervention Plan (CLAIP) Answer: -
provides specific criteria for assessing patients and prioritizing their
needs, and delineates forms of child life intervention that address
the identified needs of the individual.
,- begins w/ consideration of critical psychosocial variables (9) that
have been found to predict psychological upset in children
experiencing healthcare
◉ Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP) Answer: - formal
assessment that has been validated in infant, toddler, and preschool
versions, and includes assessment of multiple domains: cognitive,
language, gross motor, fine motor, social-emotional, self-help,
regulatory, and sensory.
- relies heavily on parent report
◉ Documentation of a child life intervention in a patient healthcare
record should be considered Answer: an extension of the
intervention that is necessary to regard it as complete
◉ Types of coping techniques/strategies Answer: sensory, cognitive,
behavioral
◉ sensory coping strategies Answer: rely on sound, touch, or
movement to enhance the child's coping capacities
◉ types of sensory coping strategies Answer: - positioning (comfort
hold, swaddling)
- movement (rocking or patting)
- soothing touch massage
, - thermal regulation (warm blankets or cold packs)
- music
◉ cognitive coping strategies Answer: approaches that include those
that help reframe or refocus thoughts from negative to positive
◉ Types of cognitive coping strategies Answer: - conscious choice of
alternate focus (distraction)
- thought stopping self-instruction (self-talk)
- therapeutic storytelling
- intellectualization (information seeking)
- reframing
- spirituality or prayer
- humor
- imagery
- hypnotherapy (magic glove)
◉ behavioral coping strategies Answer: introduce behaviors that are
compatible with the successful completion of the threatening event
◉ Types of behavioral coping strategies Answer: - relaxation
techniques (deep breathing)
- muscle relaxation
