Citation

Currie R, Anderson VA, McCarthy MC, Burke K, Hearps SJ, Muscara F. J. Health Psychol. 2018; ePub(ePub): 1359105318770728.

Affiliation

The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1359105318770728

PMID

29692208

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between individual and family-level risk in predicting longer-term parental distress following their child's unexpected diagnosis of serious illness. A mediation model was tested, whereby parents' pre-existing psychosocial risk predicts longer-term posttraumatic stress symptoms, indirectly through parents' acute stress response. One hundred and thirty-two parents of 104 children participated. Acute stress response partially mediated the relationship between psychosocial risk and posttraumatic stress symptoms, with a moderate indirect effect ( r² =.20, P_M =.56, p <.001).

FINDINGS demonstrated that cumulative psychosocial risk factors predispose parents to acute stress and longer-term posttraumatic stress symptoms, highlighting the need for psychosocial screening in this population.

Language: en

Keywords

acute illness; children; family; illness; psychological distress; risk factors; trauma