Parent Resilience After Young Child Minor Burn Injury

Objective: Pediatric burn injuries are common injuries that are traumatic for the child and their families. Although many families report high amounts of distress soon after injury, most are resilient and do not continue to experience prolonged psychosocial problems. The aim was to identify factors associated with parent resilience after pediatric burn injury. Method: Fifty-seven parents of young children (< 5 years old) enrolled in a longitudinal assessment study. Baseline evaluations were conducted within 1 week of injury and included a medical chart review and parent self-report measures of resilience, social support, family functioning, and coping. Follow-up measurement of parent traumatic stress was measured 3 months after injury. We examined baseline resilience, positive emotionality, social support, family functioning, and problem-solving coping behaviors for relationships to traumatic stress. Results: Parent resilience at baseline was associated with lower rates of parent traumatic stress symptoms at follow-up. Lower rates of traumatic stress were more common in parents of older children with more trait-level resilience, more social support, and more planning problem-solving behaviors at baseline. Conclusions: Baseline resilience characteristics are associated with less traumatic stress for parents several months after the injury. Findings can be used to develop screening strategies and interventions that address planning and problem-solving and emphasize social support. Public Significance Statement Many children are injured every year, but only some families go on to have long lasting emotional concerns. This article aimed to explore family resilience after their young child experiences an unintentional burn injury. Findings that parents with more resilience, more social support, and more planning problem-solving behaviors at the time of injury experience better mental health outcomes can inform assessment and intervention strategies.