Parental Attitudes toward Children's Hospitalization Experiences

Abstract

Three groups of parents, whose children had had differing medical conditions and associated hospitalization experiences, were asked to indicate their attitudes toward “illness,” “hospital,” and “doctor” on a semantic differential scale. Group 1 (leukemia) parents were extremely negative in their attitudes toward “illness” but generally very favorable toward “hospital” and “doctor.” Group 2 (tonsillectomy) and Group 3 (plastic surgery) were relatively neutral toward “illness” and quite positive toward “hospital” and “doctor.” Implications were discussed.