Investigating the Relationship between Anxiety of School-age Children Undergoing Surgery and Parental State-trait Anxiety

Background: Surgery is a stressful experience for children, and preoperative anxiety in children could be affected by the level of parental anxiety. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between anxiety in school-age children before surgery and parental state-trait anxiety. Method: This descriptive study was performed on 81 children within the age group of 6-12 years admitted for elective surgical operation and 128 parents in Doctor Sheikh Hospital, Mashhad, Iran, 2016. Children s anxiety and parental anxiety were measured before the entrance of the patients to the operating room via Revised Children s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) and Spielberger’s State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, respectively. The data was analyzed in SPSS, version 16, using the relevant statistical tests. Results: The results of Pearson product-moment correlation test showed a positive correlation between children s anxiety and fathers state anxiety and between children s anxiety and mothers state anxiety (r=0.27, r=0.41; P=0.005, P=0.040, respectively). However, no statistically significant relationship was observed between children s anxiety and parents trait anxiety, age of children, as well as parents educational level, occupation, and level of trait anxiety. Implications for Practice: Considering the association between parents state anxiety and children s anxiety, implementing preoperative interventions to prepare parents for surgery is recommended.