Anxiety and stress in mothers and fathers in the 24 h after their child's surgery

Abstract

Background and objective Surgery in a paediatric setting stresses children and their parents. Previous studies have focused on children and the preoperative period; however, the 24 h after child surgery are highly stressful for parents as their child is still physically recovering and physician–parent communication is vital. The aims of this study are to investigate the impact of three levels of severity of paediatric surgery on mothers’ and fathers’ anxiety and stress and to identify factors that contribute to parental anxiety and acute stress symptoms in the first 24 h after child surgery. Patients and methods A total of 154 parents (91 mothers, 63 fathers) of children who had just undergone elective surgery for a major intervention (n = 41), minor intervention (n = 64) or day surgery (n = 49) completed questionnaires aimed at assessing levels of state anxiety and acute stress symptoms. Social network, socio-economic status and parental health locus of control were evaluated as contributors. Results Parents reported high levels of state anxiety (26% had scores on the state scale 2 standard deviations above the norm) and acute stress symptoms (28% in at least one of the four acute stress disorder symptom categories). Child’s type of surgery is related to parental anxiety [F(2,134) = 38.12, P = 0.0001, η2 = 0.175] and acute stress symptoms [F(2,133) = 31.21, P = 0.0001, η2 = 0.133]. Parental state anxiety was predicted by parent’s gender, trait anxiety and health external locus of control. Parent’s number of acute stress symptoms was predicted by parental trait anxiety, health external locus of control, parent’s level of education and the number of social contacts. Conclusions There is a need to take into consideration parental anxiety and distress in the 24 h after child surgery. Parental well-being is related to several characteristics including the severity of child surgery; these aspects should be taken into consideration when interacting with parents in the aftermath of their child’s surgery.

State and trait anxiety levels among mothers of inpatient children and related factors

“…7,8 Yine çocuklardaki çeşitli hastalıkların ebeveynlerin anksiyete düzeylerine etkisini inceleyen başka araştırmalar da vardır. [9][10][11][12][13][14] Ancak, bu araştırmaların çoğunluğu da belli bir hastalığı olan veya yoğun bakım, ameliyat gibi özel bir müdahale gerektiren çocukların ebeveynleri ile ilgilidir. …”

Parents’ experiences of their child’s first anaesthetic in day surgery

“…Five of the six parents who participated were mothers and one was a father. The sample most probably reflects reality as Scrimin et al (2009) have reported that it is more often mothers, who are present at their child's anesthesia. The result in the present study can, however, be influenced as previous research has shown that mothers are generally more worried for their children in this specific situation (Chorney & Kain 2010;Messeri, Capprillo & Busoni 2004;Scrimin et al 2009).…”

“…Scrimin, Haynes, Altoè, Bornstein and Axia (2009) show that 47% of parents are worried and 26% have symptoms of stress. Parents' worry, when a child is to be anaesthetized, is at its highest level for the anaesthesia induction.…”

Relationship of work injury severity to family member hospitalization

“…Several studies have examined the impact of dramatic health events on family members. For example, a spell in the intensive care unit has been associated with post-traumatic stress reaction in a high proportion of family members [Jones et al, 2004;Paparrigopoulos et al, 2006] and with major life changes and increases in care-giving, as well as loss of the major source of family income [Covinsky et al, 1994;Swoboda and Lipsett, 2002] Other studies have found high levels of parental anxiety and stress following child surgery [Scrimin et al, 2009] and persistence of psychological distress following hospitalizations for child head trauma [Youngblut and Brooten, 2006].…”