Parental psychopathology in the pediatric intensive care unit.

摘要

Children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) can have care complicated by the co-occurring psychosocial issues of parents and other family members. Rates of parental psychopathology in the form of personality disorders are no greater for parents of children with medical conditions than for parents of otherwise healthy children. When parents with personality issues do present to the PICU, this adds a layer of complexity requiring a unified, communicative, and psychologically aware health care team. While there is no research base examining the impact of personality-disordered parents (PDPs) on children with medical problems, there is research demonstrating that children of parents with personality disorders can have significant psychological problems. Despite the lack of research on the impact of PDPs on the delivery of care for children with medical problems, anecdotal evidence and clinical experience would support that PDPs can create an unhealthy atmosphere among the PICU health care team, which includes splitting (eg, providers pitted against one another), finger pointing, and questioning of sound medical decisions that ultimately impair the quality of care given to the patient.