Parental stress during infantile hospitalization

The aim of this article is to carry out an empirical study on the stress experienced by parents of sick children admitted to hospital. Concretely, we study some of the variables that have been related to parental stress in these circumstances in order to establish which of them are the more intensely associated with stress. Our results demonstrate that the observation of the disease symptoms of the son, the relations with the sanitary personnel and the demands of the sick son, are all three aspects generating stress in the parents. Additional results are provided in relationship with the analysis of social and demographic variables such as the age or the sex of the patient, as well as other characteristics of the parents. All of them are potentially mediating aspects of stress suffered during the infant s hospitalization.