Parental Acute Distress During Initial Ambulatory Pediatric Burn Clinic Visit.

Abstract

Burn injuries in children are a significant source of distress for both the child and their parents. Beyond the acute distress of the injury itself and its subsequent treatment course, families can develop larger psychological symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Parental distress can influence the child's response to pain, and in turn, their injury recovery. Identifying temporal patterns of distress during the treatment course is crucial to providing early and effectively timed psychological interventions. This study explores the relationship between parental distress at three key time points- before, during, and at the end of the child's initial burn clinic visit- with psychosocial outcomes. Findings support a dynamic relationship between parental distress, child acute stress symptoms, and child observed pain during the initial burn clinic visit, underlining the importance of parental distress in the child's recovery. Future work should focus on developing resilience-based, family-centered interventions to improve quality of care and long-term psychosocial outcomes.