• Gillian Colville and Penelope Cream.
• Paediatric Psychology Service, St George's Hospital, London, SW17 0QT, UK. gcolvill@sgul.ac.uk
• Intensive Care Med. 2009 May 1; 35 (5): 919-23.

ObjectiveThe aim of this prospective study was to establish the degree to which parents report post-traumatic growth after the intensive care treatment of their child.DesignProspective cross-sectional cohort study.SettingPaediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).SubjectsA total of 50 parents of children, admitted to PICU for >12 h.Measurements And ResultsParents provided stress ratings as their child was discharged from PICU and, 4 months later, completed postal questionnaires rating their anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth. As much as 44 parents (88%) indicated on the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) [1] that they had experienced a positive change to a great degree as a result of their experiences in PICU. Parents of children who were ventilated (P = 0.024) reported statistically higher post-traumatic growth as did parents of older children (P = 0.032). PTGI scores were positively correlated with post-traumatic stress scores at 4 months (P = 0.021), but on closer inspection this relationship was found to be curvilinear.ConclusionsPost-traumatic growth emerged as a salient concept for this population. It was more strongly associated with moderate levels of post-traumatic stress, than high or low levels.

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