Parental stress as a cause and effect of pediatric burn injury

The current study reports assessments of stress for parents of children with acute burns at the time of hospital admission and during the first 5 years after injury. At each assessment, parents of children with burns report neither more nor less stress than a normal population. At the time of admission, parents of children with acute burns do not differ from the normal sample on any of the measures of parenting stress. Parents of recovering children with burns do report significant changes. They report significandy higher depressive symptoms at year 2 after the child’s burn injury and lower than normal levels of depression in years 4 and 5 after the child’s injury. During the recovery period, diese parents also attribute their stress more often to the child with burns, whereas other parents more evenly divide blame among dieir children and dieir personal characteristics.