Anxiety in parents seeking pediatric care

Interviewed parents of 103 children brought to a pediatric walk-in clinic, before and after seeing a physician. Previsit state anxiety was minimally related to parent perceptions of child's condition or the hospital. Anxiety, perception of child's discomfort, and perception of illness severity decreased while perceived understanding of child's illness increased postvisit. Parent perceptions of their child's condition and of the visit contributed little to the prediction of postvisit anxiety. Parent perceptions of their child's illness and the hospital were minimally related to their level of state anxiety when they brought their child to an acute care service. The visit with the physician decreased parent anxiety and improved parent perceptions of their child's condition, but these effects had little relationship to postvisit anxiety.