Children's post‐traumatic stress and the role of memory following admission to intensive care: A review

Abstract

Although our understanding of children's psychological outcomes following intensive care lags significantly behind advances in medicine, there is a growing awareness that intensive care admission impacts children beyond the boundaries of physical well‐being. Intensive care presents a variety of disease‐related, treatment‐related, and environment‐related stressors that may place children at risk of post‐traumatic stress (PTS), particularly as children may have limited resources to understand and cope with aspects of the admission, its consequences, or treatment events. This article summarises the current literature on children's PTS responses following intensive care admission with emphasis on: (1) children's experience of intensive care; (2) the prevalence of PTS in children following intensive care admission; (c) factors associated with vulnerability to PTS; and (d) the role of memory and appraisal in the development of children's PTS. Existing research does have methodological limitations, and future studies utilising larger sample sizes and developmentally appropriate diagnostic measures are warranted. Furthermore, longitudinal studies investigating the aetiology and course of PTS following paediatric intensive care unit admission, particularly with further investigation of memory and cognitive factors, may lead to advances in screening, prevention, and early intervention strategies for children.

Key words:

• children
• intensive care
• memory
• paediatric illness
• post‐traumatic stress

Funding: None.

Conflict of interest: None.

Funding: None.

Conflict of interest: None.

Acknowledgements

Belinda Dow was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award and Royal Children's Hospital Foundation Top‐Up Scholarship. Many thanks also to the Centre of National Research on Disability and Rehabilitation Medicine (CONROD) for financial support.

Notes

Funding: None.

Conflict of interest: None.