Parent emotional availability is associated with reduced preoperative anxiety in children undergoing a tonsillectomy procedure

Child preoperative anxiety is associated with greater pain following surgery, and greater parent anxiety increases child anxiety during induction of anesthesia. Anxious parents are often less sensitive in their interactions with their child. Parent emotional availability (EA), is an observational measure of parent support and genuinity. Parent EA is the strongest predictor of child anticipatory distress for future painful procedures; however, it has not been explored within a surgical context. Therefore, we examined whether parent EA was associated with child anxiety during anesthesia induction Included were 84 children between 4 –7 years old, undergoing an elective tonsillectomy.
Source: The Journal of Pain - Category: Materials Science Authors: Source Type: research