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Nursing students’ perceptions of a child: influence of information on family structure
Author(s) -
Siebert Katherine Dolan,
Gag Lawrence H.,
Hagemann Virginia,
Coleman Marilyn
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2648.1986.tb01256.x
Subject(s) - perception , semantic differential , nursing , psychology , pediatric nursing , unit (ring theory) , family medicine , medicine , developmental psychology , mathematics education , neuroscience
Sixty‐eight undergraduate nursing students from a large university in the mid‐western United States volunteered to participate in a study to determine nursing students’ perceptions of a preschool‐aged child when information about his family structure was presented. Subjects viewed a videotape of a 4‐year‐old male. Half of the subjects received written information that the child was from a two‐parent family; the other half received written information that the child was a member of a single‐parent family. Two instruments, the First Impressions Semantic Differential and the Predicted Behaviour of a Hospitalized Child Questionnaire, and a demographic data sheet, were completed by each subject. In general, a child believed to be from a two‐parent family tended to be perceived more positively than a child believed to be from a single‐parent family structure. However, when viewed as a potential patient on a hospital unit, no significant differences in perceived behaviours were reported.