The Effect of Parent-child Interaction Therapy on Separation Anxiety in 3-6-Year-old Children of Nurses

Background: Separation anxiety disorder is considered as the most common anxiety disorder in childhood. Failure to treat this disorder in early age can be converted into a risk factor for childhood and adolescent psychiatric disorders. Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the effect of parent-child interaction therapy on reducing the symptoms of separation anxiety disorder among the nurses’ children aged between 3 and 6 years old working in educational hospitals in Qazvin. Methods: The intervention was designed as pre- and post-test along with the control group. The sample included 67 children aged 3 - 6 years’ old who were divided into intervention and control groups using the blocking method. The intervention consists of three steps: child directed interaction, bravery directed interaction and parent directed interaction which was performed for 8 sessions per weak. No intervention was performed for the control group. The obtained data were collected using the Spence questionnaire (parents’ version) and the results were evaluated. Results: Intervention therapy significantly reduced the symptoms of separation anxiety in the intervention group at the post-test stage compared to the control group. The mean of separation anxiety decreased from 10.82±0.62 to 7.69±0.52 in the intervention group. Conclusions: Parent-child interaction therapy can be used as an effective treatment plan to reduce the symptoms of separation anxiety disorder among preschool children. Keywords: Children, Nurse, Parent Child Interaction Therapy, Preschool Ages, Separation Anxiety Disorde

Anxiety disorder of 3-6 year-old children

Context: Anxiety is the most common disorder in childhood. Several factors may play a role in anxiety, such as child’s emotional and social behavior and mother employment. Aims: the present study aims to evaluate the anxiety disorders of 3–6-year-old children of nurses working in the educational hospitals in the city of Qazvin. Settings and Design: This cross-sectional study was performed in September 2018. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive-analytical study. Spence anxiety scale for preschool children was used to collect data. In this self-report instrument, parents are asked to rate the frequency of child behavior on a 5-point Likert scale from Never (0) to Ever (4). The children with a score above 34 were rated as having anxiety disorder. One hundred and fifty-five nurses were willing to participate in the study. Inclusion criteria for children were 3–6 years of age, for nurses were being employed in educational hospitals of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences and the exclusion criteria of this study moving from Qazvin to another city. Statistical Analysis Used: Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 ( SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA), univariate and multivariate regression coefficients. P < 0.05 were considered as significant levels. Results: The results showed that 32.9% of children of the nurses had anxiety disorder and there was a significant positive relationship between child gender (P = 0.008), child care during hospital shifts (P = 0.013) and anxiety among in these children. Furthermore, the prevalence of anxiety disorder in girls and child care by other family members were associated with the anxiety. Conclusions: Nurses are exposed to work-family conflicts due to their occupational conditions, which play an important role in children’s anxiety and it declares the need to pay more attention to this large segment of society. To generalize the results, it is suggested that this study be conducted on the statistical population of other regions of the country. Keywords: Anxiety disorder, Nurse, Preschool childre

Anxiety disorder of 3-6 year-old children

Context: Anxiety is the most common disorder in childhood. Several factors may play a role in anxiety, such as child’s emotional and social behavior and mother employment. Aims: the present study aims to evaluate the anxiety disorders of 3–6‑year‑old children of nurses working in the educational hospitals in the city of Qazvin. Settings and Design: This cross‑sectional study was performed in September 2018. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive‑analytical study. Spence anxiety scale for preschool children was used to collect data. In this self‑report instrument, parents are asked to rate the frequency of child behavior on a 5‑point Likert scale from Never (0) to Ever (4). The children with a score above 34 were rated as having anxiety disorder. One hundred and fifty‑five nurses were willing to participate in the study. Inclusion criteria for children were 3–6 years of age, for nurses were being employed in educational hospitals of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences and the exclusion criteria of this study moving from Qazvin to another city. Statistical Analysis Used: Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 ( SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA), univariate and multivariate regression coefficients. P < 0.05 were considered as significant levels. Results: The results showed that 32.9% of children of the nurses had anxiety disorder and there was a significant positive relationship between child gender (P = 0.008), child care during hospital shifts (P = 0.013) and anxiety among in these children. Furthermore, the prevalence of anxiety disorder in girls and child care by other family members were associated with the anxiety. Conclusions: Nurses are exposed to work‑family conflicts due to their occupational conditions, which play an important role in children’s anxiety and it declares the need to pay more attention to this large segment of society. To generalize the results, it is suggested that this study be conducted on the statistical population of other regions of the country