Children's admissions to the intensive care unit: parents' attitudes and expectations of outcome.
A reliable instrument based on the Expectancy-Value Model of Attitude was developed using responses of 30 parents to assess parental attitudes toward the intensive care unit admission of children. The instrument was then administered to 50 parents whose children were in the intensive care unit to examine relationships between parents' previous experiences/knowledge and their attitudes/expectations about their child's critical illness outcome. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis demonstrated that parents' attitudes toward the event of their child's admission and parents' expectations for their child's illness outcome were influenced by previous knowledge of similar situations, previous exposure to intensive care units, and previous knowledge of similar illnesses. Knowledge of factors associated with the development of parental attitude is essential to the development of models that can be tested for predictive validity. Such models may eventually assist in identifying parents who are at risk and in need of intervention. Further studies to assess the reliability and validity of the instrument in other populations is warranted.
D000328:Adult; D000786:Anger; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002673:Child, Hospitalized / Q000523:psychology*; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010372:Pediatrics; D014481:United States