Psychological aspects of severe burn injuries in children.

Developmental issues in child health psychology.

“…Wisely, Masur, and Morgan (1983) have suggested that a child’s reactions to a severe burn injury and its treatment will be influenced strongly by his or her level of cognitive development. Children under age four are most vulnerable to burns (Feck, Baptiste, & Tate, 1978), and children in this age group have the greatest difficulty understanding their condition and its treatment, because of their level of cognitive development (preoperational or lower, Wisely et al, 1983).…”

“…Wisely, Masur, and Morgan (1983) have suggested that a child’s reactions to a severe burn injury and its treatment will be influenced strongly by his or her level of cognitive development. Children under age four are most vulnerable to burns (Feck, Baptiste, & Tate, 1978), and children in this age group have the greatest difficulty understanding their condition and its treatment, because of their level of cognitive development (preoperational or lower, Wisely et al, 1983). Wisely et al also suggested that cognitive development must be considered in educating children about their conditions and treatment and in preventing psychological reactions such as depression that may result from staff ignorance of the children’s need for nurturance.…”

The trivialization of distress.

“…There have been a number of excellent reviews and analyses of the problem of coping with physical illnesses, sometimes directed at particular illnesses such as cancer (Barofsky, 1981;Cohen & Lazarus, 1979Dunkel-Schetter & Wortman, 1982;Leventhal & Nerenz, 1983; Mages & Mendelsohn, 1979;Taylor, 1983) and burn injuries in children (Wisely, Masur, & Morgan, 1983), and sometimes directed at a very broad target, as in Silver and Wortman's (1980) treatment of coping with undesirable life events, Coyne and Holroyd's (1982) discussion of ill-This chapter is reprinted by permission of the publisher from Preventing Health Risk Behaoiors and Promoting Coping With Illness (Volume 8 of the Vermont Conference on the Primary Prevention of Psychotherapy) by J. C. Rosen and L. J. Solomon (Eds. ), in press, Hanover, NH: University Press of England.…”

Student Attitudes Toward Children and Adolescents With Severe Burns

“…Because the threat of negative public reactions exists in any environment, including school, playground, church, or shopping malls, children with severe burns quickly learn that any interaction with people outside their own social unit may be a painful experience. Many protect themselves through social withdrawal and isolation (Holaday & Blakeney, 1994;Wisely, Masur, & Morgan, 1983). Expecting such critical observation and negative feedback from others leads to feelings of shame, self-consciousness, and lowered selfesteem, often termed social death (Konigova, 1992).…”