Highlights
- •Organ transplantation is a very stressful and complex process for children as well as their parents.
- •The perceived social support score of the parents was low while parents' loneliness level was high.
- •The depression and anxiety levels of the parents were found to be moderate and high, respectively.
- •There was negative correlation between parental social support and depression, loneliness, anxiety.
- •Nurses can reduce the anxiety, loneliness and depression of parents, by strengthening their social support systems.
Abstract
Background
The aim of this study was to describe parental psychosocial outcomes following paediatric
liver transplantation and the relationship between parental psychosocial outcomes
and social support.
Method
This is a correlational, descriptive study conducted between April 2021 and October
2021 in the paediatric hepatology polyclinics of the liver transplantation institute
of a university hospital. The SPSS 25 and AMOS 23 package programmes were used to
perform data analyses.
Results
Data analysis revealed that the parents' social support level was low (44.6 ± 14.8),
while their levels of trait anxiety (51.5 ± 4.8) and loneliness (48.5 ± 5.4) were
high, and their depression level was moderate (26.4 ± 5.8). Established structural
equation modelling demonstrated that the social support parents received had a significant
effect on their levels of loneliness (β = −0.88; p < 0.001), trait anxiety (β = −0.37; p < 0.001), and depression (β = −0.44; p < 0.001).
Conclusion
The authors conclude that in parents of children who have had a liver transplant,
increased levels of perceived social support result in decreased levels of anxiety,
loneliness, and depression.
Practice implications
The authors recommend that healthcare professionals can contribute to reducing the
anxiety, loneliness and depression in parents of paediatric liver transplant recipients
by strengthening their social support systems.
Keywords
Abbreviations:
MSPSS (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support), BDI (Beck Depression Inventory), ULS (UCLA Loneliness Scale), TAI (Trait Anxiety Inventory), SEM (Structural Equation Modelling)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Pediatric Nursing: Nursing Care of Children and FamiliesAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Psychosocial assessment prior to pediatric transplantation: A review and summary of key considerations.Pediatric Transplantation. 2010; 14: 565-574
- Inventory for measuring depression.Archives of General Psychiatry. 1961; 4: 561-571
- Family impact and infant emotional outcomes following diagnosis of serious liver disease or transplantation in infancy.Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. 2017; 64: 528-532
- Child and family adjustment following pediatric solid organ transplantation: Factors to consider during the early years post-transplant.Pediatric Transplantation. 2014; 18: 559-567
- Adverse family social circumstances and outcome in pediatric cardiac transplant recipients at a UK center.The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. 2009; 28: 1267-1272
- Adherence in liver transplant recipients.Liver Transplantation. 2011; 17: 760-770
- Stress among the family caregivers of liver transplant recipients.Progress in Transplantation. 2007; 17: 48-53
- A systematic review of parent and family functioning in pediatric solid organ transplant populations.Pediatric Transplantation. 2017; 21e12900
- Validity and reliability of the UCLA loneliness scale.Türk Psikoloji Dergisi. 1989; 1: 14-18
- Do funding sources influence long-term patient survival in pediatric liver transplantation?.Pediatric Transplantation. 2021; 25e13887
- Factorial structure, validity, and reliability of revised form of the multidimensional scale of perceived social support.Türk Psikoloji Dergisi. 1995; 10: 45-55
- Post-transplant adjustment - the later years.Pediatric Transplantation. 2014; 18: 675-688
- Stress and coping in caregivers of patients awaiting solid organ transplantation.Clinical Transplantation. 2012; 26: 97-104
- Post-traumatic stress as a determinant of quality of life in pediatric solid-organ transplant recipients. In.Pediatric Transplantation. 2021; 25
- Validity of the Beck depression inventory for college students.Journal of Psychology. 1989; 7: 3-13
- The psychsocial status of liver transplant patient and their relatives on the effect of quality of life.Journal of Psychiatric Nursing. 2014; 5: 1-8
- Parents' quality of life and family functioning in pediatric organ transplantation.Journal of Pediatric Nursing. 2015; 30: 463-477
- Psychosocial predictors of medication adherence in pediatric heart and lung organ transplantation.Pediatric Transplantation. 2017; 21e12899
- OPTN/SRTR 2017 annual data report: Liver.American Journal of Transplantation. 2019; 19: 184-283
- Outcomes in pediatric solid-organ transplantation.Pediatric Transplantation. 2011; 15: 128-141
- Parents’ perspectives on caring for children after solid organ transplant.Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing. 2017; 22e12178
- Transition from hospital to home following pediatric solid organ transplant: Qualitative findings of parent experience.Pediatric Transplantation. 2014; 18: 527-537
- Liver transplantation in children: Maternal and family stress, coping, and adaptation.Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing. 2004; 9: 59-66
- Psychological care: Social and family support for patients awaiting a liver transplant.Transplantation Proceedings. 2011; 43: 701-704
- Vulnerability and chronic illness management in pediatric kidney and liver transplant recipients.Progress in Transplantation. 2015; 25: 139-146
- Health status of children alive 10 years after pediatric liver transplantation performed in the US and Canada: Report of the studies of pediatric liver transplantation experience.The Journal of Pediatrics. 2012; 160: 820-826.e3
- Experiences and barriers to health-related quality of life following liver transplantation: A qualitative analysis of the perspectives of pediatric patients and their parents.Health and Quality of Life Outcomes. 2010; 8: 150
- State-trait anxiety inventory handbook.Bogazici University Publication, 1983
- Psychological difficulties, symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorders in children and adolescents after liver transplantation.Bulletin of Clinical Psychopharmacology. 2015; 25: S122
- Health-related quality of life after pediatric liver transplantation: A systematic review.Liver Transplantation. 2017; 23: 361-374
- Posttraumatic stress disorder, quality of life, and the subjective experience in liver transplant recipients.Progress in Transplantation. 2018; 28: 70-76
- Developing a measure of loneliness.Journal of Personality Assessment. 1978; 42
- Depression and anxiety in parents of children who are candidates for liver transplantation.Arquivos de Gastroenterologia. 2016; 53: 25-30
- Immigration-related mental health disorders in refugees 5–18 years old living in Turkey.Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment. 2017; 13: 2813-2821
- State-trait anxiety inventory for adults.The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology. 1983; 1
- Psychosocial impact of pediatric living-donor kidney and liver transplantation on recipients, donors, and the family: A systematic review.Transplant International. 2015; 28: 270-280
- Children’s experiences of dialysis: A systematic review of qualitative studies.Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2012; 97: 395-402
- Psychopathology, quality of life, and related factors in pediatric liver transplantation candidates and recipients.Pediatric Transplantation. 2020; 24e13633
- Quality of life in pediatric heart transplant recipients: A comparison with children with and without heart disease.The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. 2012; 31: 571-578
- Psychological distress and psychiatric diagnoses among primary caregivers of children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant: An examination of prevalence, correlates, and racial/ethnic differences.General Hospital Psychiatry. 2014; 36: 620-626
- Concerns of and coping strategies by parents of pediatric liver transplant recipients: A qualitative study from China.International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine. 2014; 7: 5723-5729
- The lived experience of parents and guardians providing care for child transplant recipients.Progress in Transplantation. 2012; 22: 393-402
- A comparison of caregiving burden and social support levels of parents of children undergoing liver transplant.Journal of Pediatric Nursing. 2019; 47
- Comparison of quality of life and caregiving burden of 2- to 4-year-old children post liver transplant and their parents.Gastroenterology Nursing. 2020; 43: 310-316
- The relationship between anxiety-depression status and psychosocial adjustments in the patients undergoing liver transplantation.Perspectives in Psychiatric Care. 2017; April: 1-9
- The multidimensional scale of perceived social support.Journal of Personality Assessment. 1988; 52: 30-41
Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 05, 2022
Accepted:
April 21,
2022
Received in revised form:
April 19,
2022
Received:
December 30,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.