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. 2015 Feb 4;5(2):e007393.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-007393.

Ear for recovery: protocol for a prospective study on parent-child communication and psychological recovery after paediatric injury

Eva Alisic  1 , Anna Barrett  1 , Peter Bowles  1 , Franz E Babl  2 , Rowena Conroy  3 , Roderick J McClure  4 , Vicki Anderson  3 , Matthias R Mehl  5
Affiliations

Ear for recovery: protocol for a prospective study on parent-child communication and psychological recovery after paediatric injury

Eva Alisic et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Introduction: One in six children who have been admitted to hospital with an injury develop persistent stress symptoms that put their development at risk. Parents play a crucial role in children's psychological recovery, however, it is unknown how specific parenting behaviours can help or hinder. We aim to describe the nature and quantity of parent-child communication after a child has been injured, and to examine how these interactions are related to children's psychological recovery.

Methods and analysis: We are conducting a prospective observational study among children aged 3-16 years, who have been admitted to a tertiary children's hospital with a serious injury. Data collection involves a naturalistic observation of spontaneous, everyday parent-child communication at home, shortly after discharge, and an assessment of children's psychological recovery at 6 weeks and 3 months post-injury. Main analyses comprise descriptive statistics, cluster analysis and analyses of variance.

Ethics and dissemination: This study has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne (33103) and Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (CF13/2515-2013001322). We aim to disseminate the findings through international peer-reviewed journals, international conferences and social media. Participants will be sent a summary of the overall study findings.

Keywords: MENTAL HEALTH; PAEDIATRICS; SOCIAL MEDICINE.

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Figure 1
Standardised behavioural coding scheme.
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