Impact of Therapeutic Storytelling on Fear, Screen Time, and Parental Stress Among Hospitalized Children

Impact of Therapeutic Storytelling on Fear, Screen Time, and Parental Stress Among Hospitalized Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether therapeutic story reading reduces fear levels, problematic media use, and parental stress in hospitalized preschool children. It will also examine the effectiveness of this intervention when integrated into routine nursing care.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does therapeutic story reading reduce children's fear of nursing interventions and medical materials?

Does therapeutic story reading reduce problematic media use in hospitalized children?

Does therapeutic story reading reduce parental stress levels?

Researchers will compare a therapeutic story reading intervention to routine care to determine whether the intervention improves psychological outcomes in hospitalized children and their parents.

Participants will:

Be randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the control group

Complete baseline assessments before the intervention

(Intervention group) Participate in therapeutic story reading sessions for three consecutive days

(Control group) Receive routine hospital care

Complete post-intervention assessments after the study period

Children's fear levels will be assessed using the Fear of Children Against Nursing Interventions and Used Materials Scale (FCANIM). Parental outcomes will be measured using the Problematic Media Use Measure (PMUM) and the Parental Stress Scale (PSS).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children aged 4-6 years
• Able to speak and understand Turkish
• Hospitalized in the pediatric ward for at least 3 days
• No diagnosed cognitive impairment
• Written informed consent provided by a parent or legal guardian to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children who do not speak or understand Turkish
• Hospital stay expected to be less than 3 days
• Presence of diagnosed cognitive impairment or developmental disorder that would interfere with participation
• Children whose parent or legal guardian does not provide informed consent
• Children with a medical condition requiring intensive care or isolation precautions that would prevent participation in the intervention