The Role of Ethnicity and Acculturation in Preoperative Distress in Parents of Children Undergoing Surgery

Robert S Stevenson; Alvina Rosales; Michelle A Fortier; Belinda Campos; Brenda Golianu; Jeannie Zuk; Jeffrey Gold; Zeev N Kain

doi:10.1007/s10903-016-0357-7

The Role of Ethnicity and Acculturation in Preoperative Distress in Parents of Children Undergoing Surgery

J Immigr Minor Health. 2017 Jun;19(3):738-744. doi: 10.1007/s10903-016-0357-7.

Authors

Robert S Stevenson^{1

2}, Alvina Rosales^{1

3

2}, Michelle A Fortier^{4

5

6}, Belinda Campos⁷, Brenda Golianu⁸, Jeannie Zuk⁹, Jeffrey Gold¹⁰, Zeev N Kain^{1

11

12

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
² UCI Center on Stress and Health, 505 S. Main St., Suite 940, Orange, CA, 92868, USA.
³ Department of Pediatric Psychology, CHOC Children's, Orange, CA, USA.
⁴ Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA. mfortier@uci.edu.
⁵ Department of Pediatric Psychology, CHOC Children's, Orange, CA, USA. mfortier@uci.edu.
⁶ UCI Center on Stress and Health, 505 S. Main St., Suite 940, Orange, CA, 92868, USA. mfortier@uci.edu.
⁷ Department of Chicano/Latino Studies, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.
⁸ Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁹ Children's Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹¹ Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
¹² Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.

Abstract

This study examined the effects of acculturation on anxiety and stress in Latino and non-Latino white parents of children undergoing outpatient surgery. Participants included 686 parent-child dyads from four major children's hospitals in the United States. Latino parents who grew up in the U.S. reported higher levels of anxiety (p = 0.009) and stress (p < 0.001) compared to parents who grew up in a Latin American country. Additionally, English-speaking Latino parents reported higher anxiety and stress compared to both Spanish-speaking Latino and non-Latino white parents (p's < 0.05), whereas Spanish-speaking Latino and non-Latino white parents reported similar levels of stress and anxiety. Results of the current study were consistent with the immigrant health paradox in that more acculturated Latino parents reported higher levels of anxiety and stress than less acculturated Latino and non-Latino white parents, supporting the need for culturally tailored interventions in the perioperative environment.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01878747.

Keywords: Acculturation; Anxiety; Parental preoperative distress; Stress.

Publication types

Multicenter Study
Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

Acculturation*
Adenoidectomy / psychology
Adult
Anxiety / ethnology*
Child
Child, Preschool
Emigrants and Immigrants / psychology
Female
Hispanic or Latino / psychology*
Humans
Language
Male
Parents / psychology*
Sex Factors
Stress, Psychological / ethnology*
Tonsillectomy
White People / psychology

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT01878747

Grants and funding

R01 HD048935/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/United States