Abstract

CARVALHO, Maria Dulce Ramos; SILVA, José Manuel Tomás da; MACHADO, Maria Teresa Mesquita de Carvalho de Sousa  and  ROSA, Amorim Gabriel Santos. Anxiety in adolescents: Effects of a psychological preparation program for hospitalization. Revista Portuguesa de Enfermagem de Saúde Mental [online]. 2016, n.16, pp.19-26. ISSN 1647-2160.  https://doi.org/10.19131/rpesm.0153.

BACKGROUND: Adolescents who use the hospital can bring a universe of doubt and apprehension, hindering their participation in the care process. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to build a Psychological Preparation Program for Hospitalization and validate its effect on levels of anxiety of hospitalized adolescents. METHODS: This was an experimental study with a random sample of 60 adolescents, in need of hospitalization in a pediatric service. We analyzed the pattern of correlations between variables anxiety, ‘attachment’ and ‘self-efficacy’ and tested the effect of the program in reducing anxiety levels, through Covariance Analysis Test (ANCOVA). RESULTS: There was a significant difference in anxiety levels between the experimental group that was submitted to the intervention and the control group that was subjected to the standard procedure, after controlling the effects of the variable ‘self-efficacy’, being that the variable ‘attachment’ did not show a significant correlation with anxiety. This evidence supports the hypothesis that the program is more effective in reducing anxiety levels than the normally adopted procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The Psychological Preparation Program for Hospitalization proved to be a useful and effective tool in reducing the anxiety levels of hospitalized adolescents, contributing to promote a greater cognitive control and keep emotional disturbances at lower levels.

Keywords : Emotional adjustment; Adolescent; Anxiety; Hospitalization.

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