Reported stress of parents of burned children differs on the Spanish and English versions of the parenting stress inventory.

Abstract

The Parenting Stress Inventory (PSI) is a 101-item self-report questionnaire measuring stress in children and their parents. For several years, we have been administering the English and Spanish versions of the PSI to parents of children with >40% total body surface area burn at discharge, 6 months, 1 year, and every year at followup at clinic. The aim of the present study was to evaluate differences between Spanish- and English-speaking families with respect to stress and to further examine potential psychometric differences between the instruments that may contribute to these differences. In the present study, we found the instruments to be equivalent but have significant differences between the two versions, suggesting cultural differences in how coping and stress are manifested in these groups. Spanish-speaking parents noted significantly more distress than the English-speaking parents. Both groups indicated most severe problems on the Child domains of the PSI, suggesting that parents perceived their interactions and relationship as it pertain to their child to be most troubled.