In recent years, many studies have attempted to find the main predictors of the development of post-traumatic symptoms in children following medical procedures. Recent studies found a link between parental beliefs and children's post-traumatic symptoms in various medical contexts such as life-threatening illness, pain, and hospitalization. This study aims to examine the relationship between parental beleifs and post-traumatic symptoms in children and parents after surgical interventions of the children. The study was conducted among 149 children who underwent surgery and their parents. The children and parents were examined at 2 time points- during hospitalization, and 4 months after the hospitalization. Questionnaires were administered measuring parental beleifs pertaining to parental distress, and post-traumatic symptoms among children. results show a correlation between the factors. In addition, it was found that the parents' distress is a mediating relationship between the parents' perceptions and the child's level of distress. It has been found that there is a link between some of the parental beleifs and parental stress symptoms and post-traumatic symptoms in the children. Parental beliefs that were found to influence these variables were related to parental beliefs regarding children's suffering and pain during surgery. In addition, children of parents with higher levels of religious and spiritual beliefs were found to have fewer post-traumatic symptoms. This study sheds light on parental beliefs that may have the power to influence parental stress levels and children's post-traumatic symptoms after surgery.
Keywords: parental beliefs; pediatric medical traumatic stress (PMTS); pediatric surgery; risk factors.