The Relationship Between Coping Behaviors Used By Hospitalized School-Aged Children and Their Post hospitalization Behavior

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to detennine if there is a relationship between coping behavior used by school-age children during a stressful event in the hospital and subsequent behavior changes after discharge. Seventeen school-age children who were hospitalized for e.lective procedures were observed while receiving pre-operative injections to determine co-ping behaviors used before, during, and immediately after injections. Parents were asked to compl~te the Child ~ehavior Checklist (CBCL 1) questionnaire about their·children's usual behavior prior to hospitalization. Fifteen of seventeen parents r~peated the Checklist (CBCL 2) within one month following their children's discharge. Coping behaviors were initially categorized into nine discreet behaviors. These were later classified into larger groups of positive versus negative and active versus pa~sive behaviors. Analysis of covariance techniques were used to analyze the data. Coping behaviors during the injection were the independent variable and scores on the CBCL 1 were used as the covariate. Posthospitalization behavior scores (CBCL 2) were the dependent variable. Regardless of how coping behaviors were conceptualized (active/passive or positive/negative), there were no significant differences found in children's posthospitalization behavior scores. An analysis of coping patterns before, during, and after injections did, however, reveal some marked trends. Most of the children (65%) were found to behave in positive ways prior to injections. Behaviors were mixed at the time of injections. Immediately after injections, 65% demonstrated negative behaviors, manifested by some. type of withdrawal. Similarly, when behaviors were conceptualized as active and passive, most children were observed to behave actively just prior to injection (77%) and were again mixed during injection itself. Following injections, 82% demon~trated passive patterns. Further study is indicated to determine whether differences in children•s coping behavior during stressful events is related to posthospitalization adjustment~