title: Social adaptability, cognitive abilities, and other predictors for children's reactions to surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relationship between social adaptability, cognitive abilities, and other personality characteristics to perioperative anxiety.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort investigation.
  
  
  METHODS
  60 children ASA physical status I and II, age 3 to 10 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tertiary care children's hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Temperament (EASI), cognitive abilities (KABC), and adaptive behavior (Vineland) were evaluated in a group of children undergoing surgery. Parental coping style (MBBS) and parental state (STAI-S) and trait (STAI-T) anxiety were assessed as well. On the day of surgery, anxiety of the child was measured at the preoperative holding area and during induction of anesthesia (m-YPAS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Univariate correlational analysis demonstrated that young age (r = -0.27), poor social adaptability (Vineland) (r = -0.38), shy and inhibited personality (EASI; temperament) (r = -0.33), higher intelligence (KABC) (r = 0.29), increased parental anxiety (r = 0.44), and parental high-monitoring coping style (r = -0.25) are all associated with higher levels of perioperative anxiety. Stepwise multivariate regression analysis has demonstrated that controlling for the variables above, parental anxiety (p = 0.004), child's social adaptive capabilities (p = 0.04), and child's temperament (sociability) (p = 0.04) are independent predictors for increased perioperative anxiety (R(2) = 0.38, F = 5.5, p = 0.003).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Anesthesiologists need to pay close attention to the families of pediatric surgical children who are socially maladjusted, shy and inhibited, and have anxious parents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA. kain@biomed.med.yale.edu
authors.forename: Z N
authors.initials: ZN
authors.lastname: Kain
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Mayes
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Weisman
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Hofstadter
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012917:Social Adjustment; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000523:psychology*; D013694:Temperament