Children's prehospitalization conceptions of illness, cognitive development, and personal adjustment

Abstract

Although some empirical attention has focused on the predictors of children's reactions to surgery and hospitalization, few studies have examined the correlates of various dimensions of prehospital adjustment, even though there is some evidence that prehospital adjustment may be the best predictor of posthospital adjustment. This study included the investigation of several cognitive-related variables in association with the psychosocial adjustment of children 4 to 12 years of age who were scheduled for tonsillectomies and adenoidectomies at a Children's Hospital. Subjects were administered measures of illness conceptualizations, cognitive development, and adjustment a few days before hospitalization and surgery. The results indicated that illness concepts correlated highly with verbal receptive skills, conservation abilities, and age. Also, more sophisticated conceptualizations of illness, conservation skills, and age were associated with better prehospital adjustment, most noteably in the areas of lower levels of separation anxiety, anxiety about sleep, and apathy/withdrawal.