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Parental stress as a cause and effect of pediatric burn injury
P Blakeney1, P Moore, L Broemeling
1University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston.
Insights
Parents of children with acute burns experience typical stress levels. However, they report increased depressive symptoms two years post-injury, with stress attribution shifting towards the child with burns.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Pediatric Medicine
- Trauma Studies
Background:
- Parenting stress is a significant factor in child recovery.
- Understanding long-term parental psychological impact after pediatric burns is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess parenting stress in acute burn cases over five years.
- To compare parental stress and depressive symptoms to a normal population.
- To investigate changes in stress attribution during recovery.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study design.
- Assessment of parenting stress and depressive symptoms at multiple time points.
- Comparison with a normative sample.
Main Results:
- No significant difference in overall stress between parents of burn-injured children and the general population at admission.
- Elevated depressive symptoms at two years post-injury, normalizing by years four and five.
- Parents of recovering children attributed stress more to the child with burns.
Conclusions:
- Parental stress related to acute pediatric burns is comparable to general parenting stress.
- A transient increase in depressive symptoms occurs during the recovery phase.
- Shifting stress attribution during recovery highlights specific parental challenges.
Abstract:
The current study reports assessments of stress for parents of children with acute burns at the time of hospital admission and during the first 5 years after injury. At each assessment, parents of children with burns report neither more nor less stress than a normal population. At the time of admission, parents of children with acute burns do not differ from the normal sample on any of the measures of parenting stress. Parents of recovering children with burns do report significant changes. They report significantly higher depressive symptoms at year 2 after the child's burn injury and lower than normal levels of depression in years 4 and 5 after the child's injury. During the recovery period, these parents also attribute their stress more often to the child with burns, whereas other parents more evenly divide blame among their children and their personal characteristics.