The long-term effect of maternal post-burn PTSS on young children’s post-burn quality of life

Abstract

Introduction. Young children under the age of four are at high risk for experiencing a burn event. Nevertheless, the effects of burns on and predictors for young children’s health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are largely unknown. Previous research found that mothers are vulnerable for developing clinical significant post-traumatic stress symptoms after the burn event of her child that in turn may affect the child’s HRQoL. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the long-term effect of maternal post-traumatic stress symptoms on the child’s post-burn HRQoL. Methods. Participants were 93 mothers of children younger than 4 years with burns. Maternal post-traumatic stress symptoms were measured during hospitalization, at three and twelve months post-burn. A burn specific HRQoL questionnaire was used to measure the child’s functioning at 18 months post-burn. In order to overcome the power problems, background knowledge from earlier research was added to gain power by using Bayesian statistics. Results. A substantial proportion of the mothers (43%) reported post-traumatic stress symptoms during hospitalization, with a decrease over time. A higher initial level of maternal post-traumatic stress symptoms was related to lower psychosocial adjustment, more parental concern and lower cognitive and motoric functioning. The decrease of maternal post-traumatic stress symptoms was related to less parental concern. Initial level of maternal post-traumatic stress was positively related to the child’s burn severity and gender. Conclusions. The mother’s reaction to the burn event should be of special interest to health care providers during the after-care process.