The development and preliminary validation of the psychosocial adjustment to burn questionnaire

The purpose of this study was to develop and conduct a preliminary validation of a screening tool to assess psychosocial adjustment in young children and their parents following an unintentional pediatric burn-injury. Parents (N 62) of young children receiving medical treatment for a pediatric burn injury completed our newly developed Psychosocial Adjustment to Burn Questionnaire (PABQ), a 35-item psychosocial risk screening measure for children aged 0-5 that contains Child, Parent, and Regression subscales. Parents completed additional assessments of child and parent posttraumatic stress symptoms and an assessment of optimism. The PABQ-Child and PABQ-Parent subscales demonstrated strong internal consistency and test/retest reliability. Consistent with hypotheses, the PABQ-Child and PABQ-Parent subscales were positively correlated with the Child Stress Disorder Checklist, Behavior Assessment Scale for Children (Second Edition), and the PTSD Checklist. Lastly, discriminant validity was demonstrated using the Life Orientation Test-Revised. The PABQ is a promising screening tool for psychosocial risk in young pediatric burn patients and their parents.