Parent’s Stress Predictors during a Child’s Hospitalization

Agata Zdun-Ryżewska, Natalia Nadrowska, Magdalena Błażek, Katarzyna Białek, Ewa Zach and Dagmara Krywda-Rybska
Additional contact information
Agata Zdun-Ryżewska: Department of Quality of Life Research, Faculty of Health Sciencies, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-210 Gdansk, Poland
Natalia Nadrowska: Department of Quality of Life Research, Faculty of Health Sciencies, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-210 Gdansk, Poland
Magdalena Błażek: Department of Quality of Life Research, Faculty of Health Sciencies, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-210 Gdansk, Poland
Katarzyna Białek: Szpital Dziecięcy Polanki im. Macieja Płażyńskiego w Gdańsku sp. z o.o., 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
Ewa Zach: Szpital Dziecięcy Polanki im. Macieja Płażyńskiego w Gdańsku sp. z o.o., 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
Dagmara Krywda-Rybska: Szpital Dziecięcy Polanki im. Macieja Płażyńskiego w Gdańsku sp. z o.o., 80-308 Gdansk, Poland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 22, 1-13

Abstract: A child’s illness and hospitalization are particularly difficult and most often an unpredictable situation in a family’s life cycle. The level of stress of a parent of a hospitalized child depends on many factors, such as the psychological characteristics of the child and the parent, the child’s health condition, and support from the family and medical staff. Our research aimed to search for interactions between the stress experienced by the parent and the temperamental variables of both the child and the parent, and the support received from the family and hospital staff. Using three pencil-paper questionnaires—PSS, EAS-D, EAS-C—and interview questionnaire, we tested 203 parent–child dyads at the time of children hospitalization. It was revealed that the most notable moderator of the relationship between temperamental traits and the characteristics of the hospital-related situation is the child’s age. When analyzing the situation of a family with a hospitalized child, particular attention should be paid to parental emotional distress, which, regardless of the child’s age, predicts a high level of parental stress.

Keywords: psychosocial diagnosis; environmental and family conditions; psychological assessment; stress; caregiver; parent; hospitalization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:22:p:12019-:d:680268

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