Abstract
This study examines mother- and father-rated emotional and behaviour problems in and worries about 0- to 5-year-old children at 3 and 12 months after a burn event and the relation with parental distress. Mothers (n = 150) and fathers (n = 125) representing 155 children participated in this study. Child emotional and behaviour problems and parental worries about the child were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist at both time points. Parents’ level of acute subjective distress was assessed within the first month after the burn event with the Impact of Event Scale. Mothers and fathers held comparable views of their child’s emotional and behaviour problems, which were generally within the normal limits. Parents’ own acute stress reactions were significantly related to parent-rated child behaviour problems at 3 and 12 months postburn. A substantial part of mothers’ and fathers’ worries about the child concerned physical and emotional aspects of the burn trauma, and potential future social problems. Parents with high acute stress scores more often reported burn-related concerns about their child at 3 and 12 months postburn. Health-care professionals should be informed that parents’ distress in the subacute phase of their child’s burn event may be related to subsequent worries about their child and to (parent-observed) child emotional and behaviour problems. The authors recommend a family perspective, with particular attention for the interplay between parents’ distress and parent-reported child behaviour problems and worries, in each phase of paediatric burn care.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Stoddard FJ, Saxe G (2001) Ten-year research review of physical injuries. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 40(10):1128–1145
Vloemans AF, Dokter J, van Baar ME, Nijhuis I, Beerthuizen GI, Nieuwenhuis MK, Kuijper EC, Middelkoop EM (2011) Epidemiology of children admitted to the Dutch burn centres. Changes in referral influence admittance rates in burn centres. Burns 37(7):1161–1167
Brusselaers N, Monstrey S, Vogelaers D, Hoste E, Blot S (2010) Severe burn injury in Europe: a systematic review of the incidence, etiology, morbidity, and mortality. Crit Care 14(5):R188
Dissanaike S, Rahimi M (2009) Epidemiology of burn injuries: highlighting cultural and socio-demographic aspects. Int Rev Psychiatry 21(6):505–511
Landolt MA, Grubenmann S, Meuli M (2002) Family impact greatest: predictors of quality of life and psychological adjustment in pediatric burn survivors. J Trauma 53(6):1146–1151
De Young AC, Kenardy JA, Cobham VE, Kimble R (2012) Prevalence, comorbidity and course of trauma reactions in young burn-injured children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 53(1):56–63
Thompson R, Boyle D, Teel C, Wambach K, Cramer A (1999) A qualitative analysis of family member needs and concerns in the population of patients with burns. J Burn Care Rehabil 20(6):487–496
Kazak AE, Kassam-Adams N, Schneider S, Zelikovsky N, Alderfer MA, Rourke M (2006) An integrative model of pediatric medical traumatic stress. J Pediatr Psychol 31(4):343–355
Mason SA, Hillier VF (1993) Young, scarred children and their mothers–a short-term investigation into the practical, psychological and social implications of thermal injury to the preschool child. Part II: implications for the child. Burns 19(6):501–506
Stoddard FJ, Saxe G, Ronfeldt H, Drake JE, Burns J, Edgren C, Sheridan R (2006) Acute stress symptoms in young children with burns. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 45(1):87–93
Graf A, Schiestl C, Landolt MA (2011) Posttraumatic stress and behavior problems in infants and toddlers with burns. J Pediatr Psychol 36(8):923–931
Liber JM, List D, Van Loey NE, Kef S (2006) Internalizing problem behavior and family environment of children with burns: a Dutch pilot study. Burns 32(2):165–171
Meyer WJ, Robert R, Murphy L, Blakeney PE (2000) Evaluating the psychosocial adjustment of 2- and 3-year-old pediatric burn survivors. J Burn Care Rehabil 21(2):179–184
Kent L, King H, Cochrane R (2000) Maternal and child psychological sequelae in paediatric burn injuries. Burns 26(4):317–322
Bakker A, Maertens K, Van Son MJM, Van Loey NEE (2013) Psychological consequences of pediatric burns from a child and family perspective: a review of the empirical literature. Clin Psychol Rev 33(3):361–371
Moreno J, Silverman WK, Saavedra LM, Phares V (2008) Fathers’ ratings in the assessment of their child’s anxiety symptoms: a comparison to mothers’ ratings and their associations with paternal symptomatology. J Fam Psychol 22(6):915–919
Duhig AM, Renk K, Epstein MK, Phares V (2000) Interparental agreement on internalizing, externalizing, and total behavior problems: a meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Sci Prac 7(4):435–453
Scheeringa MS, Zeanah CH (2001) A relational perspective on PTSD in early childhood. J Trauma Stress 14(4):799–815
El Hamaoui Y, Yaalaoui S, Chihabeddine K, Boukind E, Moussaoui D (2006) Depression in mothers of burned children. Arch Womens Ment Health 9(3):117–119
Phillips C, Rumsey N (2008) Considerations for the provision of psychosocial services for families following paediatric burn injury–a quantitative study. Burns 34(1):56–62
Bakker A, Van Loey NE, Van der Heijden PG, Van Son MJ (2012) Acute stress reactions in couples after a burn event to their young child. J Pediatr Psychol 37(10):1127–1135
McGarry S, Girdler S, McDonald A, Valentine J, Wood F, Elliott C (2013) Paediatric medical trauma: the impact on parents of burn survivors. Burns 39:1114–1121
Hall E, Saxe G, Stoddard F, Kaplow J, Koenen K, Chawla N, Lopez C, King L, King D (2006) Posttraumatic stress symptoms in parents of children with acute burns. J Pediatr Psychol 31(4):403–412
Rizzone LP, Stoddard FJ, Murphy JM, Kruger LJ (1994) Posttraumatic stress disorder in mothers of children and adolescents with burns. J Burn Care Rehabil 15(2):158–163
Mason SA, Hillier VF (1993) Young, scarred children and their mothers–a short-term investigation into the practical, psychological and social implications of thermal injury to the preschool child. Part III: factors influencing outcome responses. Burns 19(6):507–510
Bakker A, Van Son MJM, Van der Heijden PGM, Van Loey NEE (2013) Course of traumatic stress reactions in couples after a burn event to their young child. Health Psychol 32(10):1076–1083
Landolt MA, Ystrom E, Sennhauser FH, Gnehm HE, Vollrath ME (2012) The mutual prospective influence of child and parental post-traumatic stress symptoms in pediatric patients. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 53(7):767–774
Morris A, Gabert-Quillen C, Delahanty D (2012) The association between parent PTSD/depression symptoms and child PTSD symptoms: a meta-analysis. J Pediatr Psychol 37(10):1076–1088
Connell AM, Goodman SH (2002) The association between psychopathology in fathers versus mothers and children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior problems: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull 128(5):746–773
Achenbach TM, Rescorla LA (2000) Manual for the ASEBA Preschool Forms & Profiles. University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth & Families, Burlington, VT
Verhulst FC, Jvd Ende (2000) Nederlandse vertaling CBCL: Gedragsvragenlijst voor kinderen van 1 1/2-5 jaar [Dutch translation CBCL]. Erasmus MC—Sophia Kinderziekenhuis, Rotterdam
Achenbach TM, Rescorla LA (2010) Multicultural Supplement to the Manual for the ASEBA Preschool Forms & Profiles. University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families, Burlington, VT
Sundin EC, Horowitz MJ (2002) Impact of Event Scale: psychometric properties. Br J Psychiatry 180:205–209
Horowitz M, Wilner N, Alvarez W (1979) Impact of Event Scale: a measure of subjective stress. Psychosom Med 41(3):209–218
Brom D, Kleber RJ (1985) De Schok Verwerkings Lijst [The Impact of Event Scale]. Nederlands Tijdschrift voor de Psychologie 40:164–168
Streiner DL, Norman GR (2001) Health measurement scales, a practical guide to their development and use. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Hox JJ (2010) Multilevel Analysis, 2nd edn. Techniques and applications, Routledge
Rasbash J, Browne W, Goldstein H, Yang M, Plewis I, Healy M (2000) A user’s guide to MLwiN. University of London, Multilevel Models Project
Langeland W, Olff M (2008) Psychobiology of posttraumatic stress disorder in pediatric injury patients: a review of the literature. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 32(1):161–174
De Young AC, Kenardy JA, Cobham VE (2011) Trauma in early childhood: a neglected population. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 14(3):231–250
De Los Reyes A, Kazdin AE (2005) Informant discrepancies in the assessment of childhood psychopathology: a critical review, theoretical framework, and recommendations for further study. Psychol Bull 131(4):483–509
Muller JM, Achtergarde S, Furniss T (2011) The influence of maternal psychopathology on ratings of child psychiatric symptoms: an SEM analysis on cross-informant agreement. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 20(5):241–252
Kassam-Adams N, Garcia-Espana JF, Miller VA, Winston F (2006) Parent-child agreement regarding children’s acute stress: the role of parent acute stress reactions. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 45(12):1485–1493
Salmon K, Bryant RA (2002) Posttraumatic stress disorder in children. The influence of developmental factors. Clin Psychol Rev 22(2):163–188
Green BL, Korol M, Grace MC, Vary MG, Leonard AC, Gleser GC, Smitson-Cohen S (1991) Children and disaster: age, gender, and parental effects on PTSD symptoms. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 30(6):945–951
Cox CM, Kenardy JA, Hendrikz JK (2008) A meta-analysis of risk factors that predict psychopathology following accidental trauma. J Spec Pediatr Nurs 13(2):98–110
Meyer WJ, Blakeney P, Moore P, Murphy L, Robson M, Herndon D (1994) Parental well-being and behavioral adjustment of pediatric survivors of burns. J Burn Care Rehabil 15(1):62–68
Bakker A, Van Loey NE, Van Son MJ, Van der Heijden PG (2010) Brief report: mothers’ long-term posttraumatic stress symptoms following a burn event of their child. J Pediatr Psychol 35(6):656–661
Acknowledgments
The Dutch Burns Foundation funded this study (grant number 07.107). This work resulted from collaborative efforts from our research team (M. Bremer, G. Bakker, A. Boekelaar, A. van de Steenoven, H. Hofland, L. Braem, A. Goemanne, H. Hendrickx; K. Maertens) in the respective burn centres in the Netherlands (Groningen, Beverwijk, Rotterdam) and Belgium (Antwerp, Neder-over-Heembeek, Gent, Leuven). We thank all parents for their participation.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bakker, A., van der Heijden, P.G.M., van Son, M.J.M. et al. The relationship between behavioural problems in preschool children and parental distress after a paediatric burn event. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 23, 813–822 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-014-0518-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-014-0518-y