Abstract

FREIRE, Teresa; FERREIRA, Gabriela  and  PEREIRA, Almerinda. How happy children and adolescents feel during hospitalization in a pediatric unit?. Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2021, vol.22, n.1, pp.218-229.  Epub Apr 30, 2021. ISSN 1645-0086.  https://doi.org/10.15309/21psd220119.

This study aims to analyse: i) the relationship between socio-demographic, clinical and psychological variables, and feeling happy during hospitalization; ii) the differences on feeling happy during hospitalization according to clinical variables; iii) and the contribution of socio-demographic, clinical and psychological variables, to feeling happy during hospitalization. The participants were 101 children and adolescents hospitalized (51.5% are girls) in the Pediatric Unit of a Hospital in the northern region of Portugal. Ages ranged between 10 and 17 years (M = 14, SD = 2.35). Participants answered the following questionnaires: Hope Scale for Children; Positive and Negative Affect Scale; and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - Children. Feeling happy during hospitalization was assessed by a single item asking how they feel since they are hospitalized, using the "faces" scale from 1 (extremely unhappy) to 7 (extremely happy). The assessment took place in a single moment and fulfilled all the ethical and deontological requisites. Feeling happy during hospitalization was not significantly associated with sociodemographic (e.g. gender, age) and clinical variables (e.g. chronic disease, type of hospitalization), except with the scheduling of hospitalization. It was found that a scheduled hospitalization, higher levels of positive affect, and greater hope in general contributed to higher feelings of happiness during hospitalization, explaining 30% of the variance. The knowledge of the individual variables that contribute to children and adolescents’ feelings of happiness during hospitalization may bring clinical implications for individual intervention, out or inside the hospital setting.

Keywords : Hospitalization; children and adolescents; happiness; affect; hope; distress.

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