Examining emotional distress during pediatric hospitalization for school-aged children.

Emotional distress was examined in 80 school-aged children during pediatric hospitalization. Using multiple regression analyses, children's depressive and anxious symptoms were positively related to duration of physical symptoms and parental distress. Depressive symptoms were negatively related to age and the perceived social support available from the family. Unexpectedly, the frequency of medical procedures and previous hospitalization experiences were not associated with depressive or anxious symptoms. Because many of the children in this study had experienced enduring symptoms and frequent previous hospitalizations, it was hypothesized that they may have habituated and adjusted to many of the experiences of hospitalization and thus were not adversely affected by such experiences.