Children's adjustment to the hospital: a rural/urban comparison.
This paper presents the findings of an investigation to determine whether or not there is a difference in the degree of psychological upset of rural and urban children during hospitalization. The subjects in the study were 70 children between the ages of 4 and 17 years who participated in the Child Life Program during hospitalization at Children's Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. The anxiety levels of the children were evaluated by using three instruments: a 13-item, self-report test of fears; a 64-item observation checklist of negative behaviors; and a 4-item anxiety rating scale. The results revealed that on specific measures rural children exhibited a statistically significantly greater degree of psychological upset during hospitalization than urban children. Implications of these results in determining procedures to reduce anxiety of children during hospitalization are briefly considered.
M P
MP
Strickland
J D
JD
Leeper
P
P
Jessee
C
C
Hudson
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000407:Alabama; D001007:Anxiety; D002648:Child; D002673:Child, Hospitalized / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006744:Hospital Bed Capacity, 100 to 299; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012424:Rural Population; D014505:Urban Population