Anxiety of non-rooming-in parents of hospitalized children

Abstract

This study examined levels of anxiety in 51 parents who did not room in with their young hospitalized children. The Spielberger State-Trait Inventory was used to measure parental anxiety twice, with a 3-day interval. Levels of anxiety were significantly higher in parents with a greater number of children at home, less education, and lower social status. Findings of clinical significance were: the longer the child's hospitalization the more anxious parents became, especially if there were children at home; hospitalization of a child was more stressful for fathers because they maintain lower trait anxiety than mothers; and as parental visits to their hospitalized child decreased, parental anxiety levels increased.