Socio-demographic correlates of parents' participation in care of a hospitalized child: A perspective from a developing country.

Studies on parents' participation in care of a hospitalized child are rare and have not sufficiently addressed the factors prompting parents' participation in their child's care. This study investigated the relative contributions and predictive value of parents' and children's demographics on parents' participation in care. A convenience sample of 294 parents participated from four major hospitals in a metropolitan area in Amman. Parents completed two sets of measures, a socio-demographic form and the Arabic version of the Index of Parent Participation/Hospitalized Child. A series of bivariate analyses were completed to investigate associations between socio-demographic variables and parents' participation in care. The multiple regression analysis identified four variables as the optimal set of predictors for parent participation in the care of a hospitalized child: hospital experience, type of illness, child's age and type of hospital. The importance of interpreting these findings in a cultural context is discussed.