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Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access published online on October 21, 2009
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsp090
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

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

Anne Bakker, MA1, Nancy E. E. Van Loey, PhD1, Maarten J. M. Van Son, PhD2 and Peter G. M. Van der Heijden, PhD3

1Association of Dutch Burn Centres, 2Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University,and 3Department of Methodology and Statistics, Faculty of Social Sciences and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University

All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Anne Bakker, Association of Dutch Burn Centres, PO Box 1015, 1940 EA Beverwijk, the Netherlands. E-mail: abakker{at}burns.nl


  Abstract

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.

Key words: burns; children; longitudinal research; parents; posttraumatic stress..

Received March 26, 2009; revision received September 15, 2009; accepted September 15, 2009


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