Parent post-traumatic growth after a child's critical illness

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Trauma Studies
• Child Health

Background:

• Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is a positive psychological transformation following adversity.
• Understanding PTG factors in parents of critically ill children is crucial for support.
• Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admissions represent significant parental stress.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify factors associated with post-traumatic growth in parents after a child's PICU admission.
• To characterize the psychological experiences of parents navigating a child's critical illness.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional survey study of parents 1 year after a child's PICU admission (≥72 hours).
• Mixed-effects linear regression analyzed associations between PTG and variables like post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, resiliency, and family/child function.

Main Results:

• 67.1% of parents reported moderate-to-high post-traumatic growth.
• Longer child hospital stays (β=0.85, p=0.004) and higher parent post-traumatic stress symptoms (β=1.04, p=0.006) correlated with increased PTG.
• Increased parent depression symptoms were associated with decreased PTG (β=-1.96, p=0.015).

Conclusions:

• Parental PTG is influenced by the child's length of stay and the parent's psychological response (stress vs. depression).
• Future interventions should aim to reduce parental distress while fostering adaptation and PTG.