Melba C. Carter

Maternal and Paternal Stress Reactions when a Child is Hospitalized in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

A major situational stressor experienced by parents is the serious illness of a family member, and perhaps no event is more stressful than the admission of a child to an intensive care unit (ICU). This study was designed to identify ICU environmental stressors experienced by parents when a child is admitted to a pediatric ICU and to examine possible differences in the perceived stress stimuli and the overall stress impact between mothers and fathers. Thirty-seven father-mother dyads whose children had recently been discharged from a pediatric ICU in one of four midwestern hospitals were subjects for the study. Data were collected using the Parental Stressor Scale: Pediatric ICU (PSS:PICU) and Spielbergers State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Findings suggest that mothers and fathers found the total ICU experience equally stressful. Mean State Anxiety scores were not significantly different for the two groups. In a comparison of mean scores on the seven dimensions of the PSS:PICU, mothers and fathers differed f...

Parental Environmental Stress in Pediatric Intensive Care Units

From a study of parental reactions to pediatric intensive care unit experiences, this research team makes recommendations for development of programs that can help staff deal effectively with the parents of their patients.

Problems of Mothers in Management of Children with Diabetes

This study was designed to determine which aspects of diabetic management were perceived by mothers of children with diabetes to be the most problematic. A secondary purpose was to explore how age and sex of the child, age at diagnosis, illness duration, marital status, and socioeconomic status of the mother were related to the mothers perception of problematic aspects of care. The 84 subjects in this study were asked to complete the Diabetic Management Concern Questionnaire, which measures concern about 11 dimensions of diabetes management, along with a personal-situational information sheet. Results indicated that the three dimensions classified by mothers as most problematic were future concerns, hypoglycemia, and diabetic control. The younger the child, the greater the maternal concern about hypoglycemic reactions and availability of help/support. The younger the child was at diagnosis, the more the mother was concerned with hypoglycemic reactions. A shorter duration of illness was related to concern about insulin injections. Subjects with lower socioeconomic status were concerned about finances, the availability of help/support, and the psychological stigma of diabetes. Single mothers were also concerned about financial aspects of management. There were no differences in concerns between mothers of boys and girls. Implications of the findings for clinical practice are presented.

Diabetic Camping: Effect on Knowledge, A Ttitude, and Self-Concept

With the use of a pre- and posttest design, the effect of a one-week camping experience researched knowledge, attitude toward diabetes, and self-concept of diabetic and nondiabetic children in an integrated residential camp. Subjects for this study were 63 children with diabetes and 18 children without, ages 8 to 14. A modified Etzwiler Diabetic Knowledge Questionnaire, a modified Attitude toward Disabled People Scale, and a Piers-Harris Childrens Self-concept Scale were administered on days one and six. Subject characteristics considered to be related to the variables under study were assessed. Paired t-tests, analysis of covariance with repeated measures, and Pearson correlation techniques were used in data analysis. While both the diabetic and nondiabetic groups significantly increased in knowledge about the disease, in neither group was their change in attitude toward the disease significant nor did the nondiabetic subjects demonstrate a statistically significant difference on this variable. Age of o...

Effects of the Intensive Care Unit Environment on Parents of Cardiac Surgery Children

This paper evaluates the stress levels of parents from this large sample whose children were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) following heart surgery. In analysis, the data from the 179 heart surgery parents were compared to the remaining 331 parents in the sample. A high percentage of the heart surgery children had been admitted for planned heart surgery (89%). The mean age of parents was 30, while the child’s mean age was 3.4, slightly lower than the overall group. Thirty-five percent of the sample were fathers and 65% were mothers. The majority of parents were Caucasion (92%) and were married to the parent of the sick child (90%).