Examining the Relationship between Psychosocial Symptoms in Hospitalized Children and the Anxiety Levels of Their Mothers

Abstract

Background: Hospitalization affects both children and their mothers psychosocially. Early detection of psychosocial symptoms in children and anxiety in their mothers is very important for nurses to plan and implement the necessary interventions for these problems. Objectives: The aim of the study is to define psychosocial symptoms in hospitalized children between the ages of 6-12 and the concerns of mothers and also to examine the relationship between them. Methods: This descriptive-relationship seeking research was done in a training and research hospital between July and December 2019. The sample of the study consisted of 120 children in the 6-12 age group and their mothers. The datas were obtained using the “Personal Information Form”, “Assessment Scale for Psychosocial Symptoms in Hospitalized Children”, “Parent Anxiety Resources Scale” and were evaluated using the descriptive statistics, the Mann Whitney U, the Kruskal Wallis H and the Spearman correlation tests. Results: 62.5% of the 6-12 age group hospitalized children are male, 68.3% of them have been in the hospital for less than 7 days and 58.3% of them have had more than one hospitalization experience. Anger and Aggression levels of hospitalized boys were found to be higher. The anxiety level of the mothers of the children have not started school yet and whose illness continued for 7-15 days was found to be higher. A weakly positive and significant correlation was found between the total score of parent anxiety resources and psychosocial symptoms in hospitalized children, and a weakly negative relationship between the age of the children and the psychosocial symptoms and the anxiety levels of their mothers. Conclusion: Psychosocial symptoms in hospitalized children and anxiety in their mothers were found to be mildly and correlated. Gender and age affected the psychosocial symptoms in hospitalized children, and their mothers' level of anxiety, on the other hand, as they start school and the duration of illness. It is recommended to conduct studies in which children and their mothers in hospital are evaluated together in terms of psychosocial problems they experience. © Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Hemşirelik Fakültesi Elektronik Dergisi 2021