Half of Parents of Child Stroke Victims Have PTSD Symptoms

Posted: Published on March 8th, 2015

This post was added by Dr Simmons

By Traci Pedersen Associate News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on February 16, 2015 ~ 2 min read

Over half of all parents whose children have suffered from a stroke show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to research presented at the American Stroke Associations International Stroke Conference 2015.

Researchers also found that about one-fourth of children who have experienced a stroke show signs of clinical anxiety. Both parental PTSD and child anxiety are two factors that could interfere with treatment and outcomes.

Stroke is one of the top causes of death for children in America, estimated to affect about 3,000 children and young adults every year, according to the American Stroke Association. Between 20 to 40 percent of children die after a stroke with the risk being greatest during the first year of life.

Sickle cell disease and congenital heart disease are two common risk factors for pediatric stroke; boys are also at a higher risk than girls, and African Americans are at a higher risk than Caucasian or Asian children.

We were prompted to look at this issue based on our own clinical experiences here at Boston Childrens Hospital, said Laura Lehman, M.D., lead researcher and neurologist at Boston Childrens Hospital.

When something happens to a child, it happens to the whole family. The psychosocial part of recovery after stroke is just as important as the physical recovery, so our hope is to use this data to more effectively treat these families.

The preliminary study involved nine pediatric stroke patients ages seven to 18 years, 10 fathers, and 23 mothers of child stroke victims ranging in ages from infant to teenager. The children had experienced their strokes in either 2013 or 2014.

The findings showed that 55 percent of the parents met at least one of the PTSD criteria and 24 percent met all the criteria for PTSD. While symptoms of PTSD were not seen among the children, 22 percent had clinically significant levels of anxiety.

Our concern is that PTSD in parents of a child with stroke or pediatric stroke patients experiencing anxiety may have a harder time complying with therapy, which could affect health outcomes of the child, said Lehman.

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Half of Parents of Child Stroke Victims Have PTSD Symptoms

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