Maternal and Paternal Stress Reactions when a Child is Hospitalized in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

A major situational stressor experienced by parents is the serious illness of a family member, and perhaps no event is more stressful than the admission of a child to an intensive care unit (ICU). This study was designed to identify ICU environmental stressors experienced by parents when a child is admitted to a pediatric ICU and to examine possible differences in the perceived stress stimuli and the overall stress impact between mothers and fathers. Thirty-seven father-mother dyads whose children had recently been discharged from a pediatric ICU in one of four midwestern hospitals were subjects for the study. Data were collected using the Parental Stressor Scale: Pediatric ICU (PSS:PICU) and Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Findings suggest that mothers and fathers found the total ICU experience equally stressful. Mean State Anxiety scores were not significantly different for the two groups. In a comparison of mean scores on the seven dimensions of the PSS:PICU, mothers and fathers differed for the dimensions “Child's Behavior and Emotions” and Parental Role Alteration. Results suggest the need to prepare both parents for the child's behavioral changes and for their altered parental roles when a child is admitted to an ICU.