Relationship between negative emotions and perceived support among parents of hospitalized,critically ill children

Objectives:The purpose of this study was to describe relationships between negative emotions and perceived emotional support in parents of children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit(PICU).Methods:This cross-sectional descriptive study conducted face-to-face interviews between January 2019 and January 2020.Study variables included depression(PHQ-9 Scale),anxiety(Emotional Distress-Anxiety-Short Form 8a),anger(Emotional Distress-Anger-Short Form 5a),fear(Fear-Affect Computerized Adaptive Test),somatic fear(Fear-Somatic Arousal-Fixed Form),loneliness(Revised 20-item UCLA Loneliness Scale),and perceived emotional support(Emotional Support-Fixed Form).Results:Eighty parents reported symptoms of depression 8.00(4.00,13.75),anxiety(23.43±7.80),anger(13.40±5.46),fear(72.81±27.26),somatic fear 9.00(6.00,12.75),loneliness(39.35±12.00),and low perceived emotional support(32.14±8.06).Parents who were young,single,low-income,and with limited-post secondary education reported greater loneliness and lower perceived emotional support.Fear correlated with depression(r=0.737,P<0.01)and anxiety(r=0.900,P<0.01).Inverse relationships were discovered between perceived emotional support and loneliness(r=-0.767,P<0.01),anger(r=-0.401,P<0.01),and depression(r=-0.334,P<0.01).Conclusions:The cluster of negative emotions identified will serve as potential targets for future interventions designed to enhance support for parents of critically ill children.