The purpose of this study was to determine whether maternal anxiety and mothers' participation in their children's care during hospitalization mediated the effects of a child behavior informational intervention for mothers on their children's posthospital negative behavioral change. Participants were 49 mothers and their young children, ages 24-68 months, who were unexpectedly hospitalized with unplanned medical or surgical conditions. These participants were drawn from a larger study of the separate and combined effects of child behavior information and parent role information on the process and outcomes of maternal and child coping with unplanned hospitalization. Findings indicated that the effects of child behavior information on children's posthospital negative behavioral change were mediated by maternal anxiety and participation in their children's care during hospitalization. Results of this study provide support for targeting mothers with informational interventions in order to enhance outcomes in hospitalized children.
Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.