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An information seeking disposition in child surgery patients
Insights
Children undergoing surgery exhibit an information-seeking coping dimension. This dimension influences how they acquire information and respond to stress, suggesting its importance in pediatric medical care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Psychology
- Medical Coping Strategies
- Child Health Research
Background:
- Adult studies highlight information seeking vs. avoiding coping dimensions.
- Empirical evidence for this dimension in children is limited.
- Understanding children's coping is crucial for medical care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the information seeking coping dimension in children undergoing elective surgery.
- To validate this dimension using multiple raters and situations.
- To explore its relationship with prior information acquisition and stress responses.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Coping Strategies Interview to assess information seeking scores in child patients.
- Related scores to parent-rated variables (coping history, information preference, behaviors).
- Correlated scores with observed question-asking and discussion during medical procedures.
Main Results:
- Information seeking scores were strongly related to prior information acquisition.
- Scores correlated with parent-rated coping success and information preferences.
- High information seeking predicted more adaptive behaviors before procedures.
Conclusions:
- Cross-rater and cross-situation validation supports an information seeking dimension in children.
- This dimension is a useful consideration in pediatric medical research.
- Understanding children's information seeking can inform tailored medical support.
Abstract:
Several studies in the last decade have demonstrated the importance of considering an information seeking versus information avoiding coping dimension in adult medical patients. However, there have been few empirical demonstrations of such a dimension in children. The present study utilized the Coping Strategies Interview to assign an information seeking score to child elective surgery patients. This information seeking score was related to several parent-rated variables, including the child's historical success in coping with medical procedures, the child's typical preference for information acquisition, and the child's typically emitted coping behaviors. In addition, the information seeking score was related to question asking and discussion of medical procedures as rated by an objective observer during the blood test, by the nurse during anesthesia induction, and by the parent during recovery from surgery. It was strongly related to the information acquired prior to hospitalization. Information seeking was also related to stress responses, such that high information seeking scores predicted more adaptive behaviors prior to the blood test. This cross-rater and cross-situation validation suggests the existence of an information seeking dimension in children and the utility of considering this dimension in future research.