Brief Report: Mothers’ Long-term Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Following a Burn Event of Their Child

• Published in: Journal of pediatric psychology Vol. 35; no. 6; pp. 656 - 661
• Main Authors: Bakker, Anne, Van Loey, Nancy E. E., Van Son, Maarten J. M., Van der Heijden, Peter G. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Atlanta, GA Oxford University Press 01.07.2010
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Burns; Burns - psychology; Child; Child clinical studies; Child, Preschool; children; Female; Guilt; Humans; Infant; longitudinal research; Male; Medical sciences; Mother-Child Relations; Mothers - psychology; parents; Post-traumatic stress disorder; posttraumatic stress; Prospective Studies; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Regression Analysis; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Trauma Severity Indices; Traumas. Diseases due to physical agents; Human; Parent; Anxiety disorder; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Long term; Burn; Symptomatology; longitudinal research; posttraumatic stress; Mother; Follow up study; children; Child; burns; parents
• ISSN: 0146-8693; 1465-735X
• DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsp090

Objective This prospective longitudinal study examines the course of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in mothers of children with burns between 1 and 11 years after the burn event and the role of burn severity and feelings of guilt on this course. Method Self-reported PTSS of 48 mothers were measured with the Impact of Event Scale. Guilt feelings were assessed during an in-depth interview 2 years after the burn event. Eleven years after the burn event, mothers marked their child's scars at the present time on a drawing. Results Over a period of 10 years, maternal PTSS decreased. Multiple regression analysis showed that the interaction between guilt and burn severity predicted the course of PTSS. Conclusions Although PTSS substantially decreases through the years, a subset of mothers, in particular mothers who feel guilty about the burn event and whose children have more extensive permanent scarring seem at risk for longer term PTSS.