Acute Stress and Need for Psychological Follow-Up Care in Parents of Children Treated at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Emilie Rössler, Katherina Wicklein, Teresa Deffner and 2 others
PMID 41330866WHAT IT FOUND
Before discharge, no parent, child, or treatment factor tested in the final model was linked to acute stress disorder, although 63.5% of parents met its criteria.
Parents at PTSD risk reported needing follow-up care eight times more often.
Key findings
0163.5% of parents met criteria for acute stress disorder, but no parent, child, or treatment factor tested in the final model was linked to that diagnosis.
02Parents at risk for PTSD reported a subjective need for psychological follow-up care eight times more often than parents without that risk.
03In 24 complete parent pairs, acute stress symptoms were correlated between mothers and fathers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
It was done in one German tertiary paediatric intensive care unit, so results may not transfer to other health systems or cultures. The sample was modest: 77 parents of 52 children, and only 24 complete parent pairs were used for the dyadic analysis. The survey was done once before discharge, with no follow-up, so it cannot show whether screened parents later developed PTSD or depression. It did not measure several known risk factors, such as socioeconomic status, prior psychiatric history, prior trauma, and life stress. Parents reported symptoms by questionnaire, which can be affected by recall or social desirability bias. Bereaved parents were excluded, so the study does not cover a group likely at even higher psychological risk. Some eligible families did not return questionnaires, and a few cases were excluded for missing data or record discrepancies.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest and nothing to report under funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the eight-times association as proof that screening or follow-up care improves outcomes. The study measured risk and perceived need at one time point, with no follow-up, so it cannot show that referring these parents prevents PTSD or depression.