Objective To review and synthesise qualitative literature regarding the psychological outcomes following paediatric burn injuries, and to determine if children and adolescents who experience a burn injury have elevated risk of psychopathology following the injury. Design Systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Data sources Informit health, Medline, Embase, and PsycINFO were searched from January 2010 to December 2020. Data extraction and synthesis Two reviewers screened articles, and one reviewer extracted data (with cross-checking from another reviewer) from the included studies and assessed quality using an established tool. Narrative synthesis was used to synthesise the findings from the quantitative studies, and thematic synthesis was used to synthesise the findings of included qualitative studies. Results Searches yielded 1240 unique titles, with 130 retained for full-text screening. Forty-five studies from 17 countries were included. The psychological outcomes included in the studies were mental health diagnoses, medication for mental illness, depression, anxiety, stress, fear, post-traumatic stress, post-traumatic growth, emotional issues, self-harm, self-esteem, self-concept, stigmatisation, quality of life, level of disability, resilience, coping, and suicidality. Conclusions Our findings highlight paediatric burn patients as a particularly vulnerable population following a burn injury. Studies suggest elevated anxiety and traumatic stress symptoms, and higher rates of psychopathology in the long-term. Further research is recommended to determine the psychological outcomes in the other mental health domains highlighted in this review, as findings were mixed. Clinical care teams responsible for the aftercare of burn patients should involve psychological support for the children and families to improve outcomes.

Title: The psychological impact of paediatric burn injuries: a systematic reviewObjective To review and synthesise qualitative literature regarding the psychological outcomes following paediatric burn injuries, and to determine if children and adolescents who experience a burn injury have elevated risk of psychopathology following the injury.Design: Systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies.Data sources: Informit health, Medline, Embase, and PsycINFO were searched from January 2010 to December 2020.Data extraction and synthesis: Two reviewers screened articles, and one reviewer extracted data (with cross-checking from another reviewer) from the included studies and assessed quality using an established tool. Narrative synthesis was used to synthesise the findings from the quantitative studies, and thematic synthesis was used to synthesise the findings of included qualitative studies.Results: Searches yielded 1240 unique titles, with 130 retained for full-text screening. Forty-five studies from 17 countries were included. The psychological outcomes included in the studies were mental health diagnoses, medication for mental illness, depression, anxiety, stress, fear, post-traumatic stress, post-traumatic growth, emotional issues, self-harm, self-esteem, self-concept, stigmatisation, quality of life, level of disability, resilience, coping, and suicidality.Conclusions: Our findings highlight paediatric burn patients as a particularly vulnerable population following the burn injury. Studies suggest elevated anxiety and traumatic stress symptoms, and higher rates of psychopathology in the long-term. Further research is recommended to determine the psychological outcomes in the other mental health domains highlighted in this review, as findings were mixed.Clinical care teams responsible for the aftercare of burn patients should involve psychological support for the children and families to improve outcomes.

Burn injuries are traumatic experiences that can detrimentally impact an individual’s psychological and emotional wellbeing. Despite this, some survivors adapt to psychosocial challenges better than others despite similar characteristics relating to the burn. Positive adaptation is known as resilience or posttraumatic growth, depending on the trajectory and process. This review aimed to describe the constructs of resiliency and growth within the burn injury context, examine the risk factors that inhibit resilience or growth after burn (barriers), the factors that promote resilience or growth after burn (enablers), and finally to assess the impact of interventions that have been tested that may facilitate resilience or growth after burn. This review was performed according to the recently updated Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Guidelines. An electronic search was conducted in November 2021 on the databases PubMed, Medline (1966-present), Embase (1974-present), PsycINFO for English-language peer-reviewed academic articles. There were 33 studies included in the review. Findings were mixed for most studies; however, there were factors related to demographic information (age, gender), burn-specific characteristics (TBSA, time since burn), person-specific factors (personality, coping style), psychopathology (depression, PTSD), and psychosocial factors (social support, spirituality/religion, life purpose) that were evidenced to be related to resilience and growth. One qualitative study evaluated an intervention, and this study showed that a social camp for burn patients can promote resilience. This study has presented a variety of factors that inhibit or encourage resilience and growth, such as demographic, individual, and social factors. We also present suggestions on interventions that may be used to promote growth following this adverse event, such as improving social support, coping styles and deliberate positive introspection.