Identification of typologies derived from child behaviors in the hospital as predictors of psychological upset.

This study proposed to measure objectively the behaviors of children in the hospital setting in order to combine the data on the particular aspects of behaviors or symptoms into global measures or typologies of psychological upset. It attempts to offer a good, single measure for predicting behavior of children in psychological upset. Thirty-one subjects in this study, observed in the hospital setting, are clustered together to identify typologies derived from child behaviors in the hospital. These children were divided into three factors which correspond with the three stages of hospitalization: Factor I typified Stage III -- Denial; Factor II typified Stage II -- Despair; and Factor III typified Stage I -- Protest. The study offers direction to objectively and systematically evaluate the effects of hospitalization on children. It also suggests that observational ratings of child behaviors in the hospital may be accurate predictors of the degree of psychological upset a child is experiencing at a certain point in time. It also has particular implications for strategies which hospital staff could employ when they observe particular stages that children manifest.