Publication Date
2017-08-08
Availability
Open access
Embargo Period
2017-08-08
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PHD)
Department
Nursing (Nursing)
Date of Defense
2017-06-30
First Committee Member
Jessica Roberts Williams
Second Committee Member
Brian McCabe
Third Committee Member
Joseph P. DeSantis
Fourth Committee Member
Laura Kohn Wood
Abstract
Having a child in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) places parents at risk for Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) symptoms. ASD symptoms, or primary negative responses to a traumatic event, may increase parents’ risk for developing long-term Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) one or more months later. The purpose of this study is to examine the stress appraisal, coping behaviors, and level of distress due to ASD in an ethnically diverse sample of mothers with a child in the PICU, while controlling for socioeconomic factors. A quantitative cross-sectional design, which surveyed mothers with a child age one day to 17 years in the intensive care unit, was used for this study. The instruments included in the survey were a Parent Demographic Sheet, the Pediatric Stressor Scale: Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, the Brief COPE, and the Acute Stress Disorder Scale. Results of this study add to the literature on parental stress and coping behaviors of minority mothers with a child in the PICU and can be used to guide culturally tailored nursing interventions to improve coping and decrease ASD symptoms in this population of mothers.
Keywords
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit; Stress; Coping; Acute Stress Disorder (ASD); Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); Parental Stress
Recommended Citation
Ernst, Mary E., "Stress Appraisal, Coping Behaviors, and Level of Distress in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Mothers with a Child in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit" (2017). Open Access Dissertations. 1962.
https://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations/1962