Descriptive and Sequential Analyses of Mothers' and Fathers' Touch Behaviours and Their Relation with Children's Postoperative Distress

Research shows that parents' verbal behaviours (e.g., reassurance, distraction) influence children's coping during medical procedures. Nonverbal parental behaviours, such as touch, may also be important to study in medical contexts. Parental touch, like verbal behaviours, can serve a variety of purposes in a medical setting (e.g., performing tasks, providing support). This study examined mothers' and fathers' use of child-directed touch in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU) after children underwent surgery. METHODS: 142 families of children undergoing elective outpatient surgery participated. Families' visits' to the PACU were video recorded, and parent touch and child distress behaviours were coded using standardized methods. Moments of parent touch were coded as 'functional' (e.g., performing a medical or non-medical task), 'embracing' (e.g., hugging or holding the child), or 'pat/rub' (e.g., patting or rubbing the child). Statistical tests compared the number of mothers' and fathers' that used each type of touch, and parents' rates of touch. Statistical tests also examined the relationship over-time between parents' touch and children's distress. RESULTS: More mothers than fathers used embracing touch. Mothers used all three types of touch at higher rates than fathers. Children's greater distress was related to mothers' and fathers' greater use of functional touch, and to mothers' greater use of embracing touch. Mothers embracing touch was more likely to occur after children's distress than at any other time in the PACU. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest potential differences in mothers' and fathers' roles in the PACU, and show that mothers often provide embracing touch in response to children's distress. These results are important because research shows that children's distress can negatively impact their recovery from surgery. These results add to our understanding of parent behaviours that may be helpful in managing children's distress after surgery.