Promoting healthy behaviors in pediatrics: Motivational interviewing

• Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a counseling style that guides patients and parents toward resolving their ambivalence about behavior change to enhance their self-efficacy and improve their own health. • The evidence base concerning MI in pediatrics is growing, with strongest support for its use in adolescents. (4)(5)(6)(7) • Opening strategies for enhancing rapport by using MI include asking permission to provide information and advice; using open-ended questions and "rulers" for assessment; affirming autonomy and self-efficacy; testing hypotheses and actively listening with reflective statements; and using summarizing statements to integrate findings and to discuss menus of options. • Developmentally tailoring MI in the pediatric setting includes focusing more on parents when dealing with the pre-verbal child and taking cognitive level into account when dealing with children older than preschool age.