Children’s Daily Life After Potentially Traumatic Injury: A Naturalistic Observation Study

Although family environment in the aftermath of potentially traumatic pediatric injury appears critical to recovery, there are no studies observing children’s daily life at home. We aimed to explore the daily family environment (activities and interactions) of 3-to 16-year-olds and their families following an injury requiring hospital admission. We used the electronically activated recorder (EAR; Mehl et al. 2001) to gather detailed, moment-to-moment observational data for 71 child participants (59% male; M_age = 10.41 years, SD = 3.60) during 2 days at home, within a month of their injury. We also explored associations between either acute stress symptoms or perceived social support and characteristics of daily family environment. TV exposure was a dominant feature in children’s lives, 38.62% of children’s wake time, SD = 22.20%. Children interacted with others an average of 46.80% of their wake time (SD = 18.05%). Older children spent more time alone than younger children, and mothers were children’s most frequent interaction partners, 44.22% of children’s interaction time, SD = 22.06%; followed by siblings, M = 36.59%, SD = 28.74%; and fathers, M = 22.78%, SD = 22.80%. There were few associations between either acute stress symptoms or perceived social support and daily family environment, with some correlations varying across child age and sex. The findings give first insights into clinically relevant aspects of child daily family environment after pediatric injury. This study provides a benchmark for future naturalistic observation studies of family life after trauma.