Available online 9 February 2026, 151586

Author links open overlay panelLauren MednickShow moreAbstract

Integrating pediatric psychologists into surgical care trajectories can reduce preoperative anxiety and improve postoperative outcomes. Pediatric psychologists can provide personalized approaches to how children and caregivers are informed about and prepared for what they will experience throughout the perioperative course, as well as teach cognitive and behavioral coping skills. These interventions can contribute to improved emotional, behavioral, and surgical outcomes, resulting in a more positive experience for children and their caregivers.

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Access through your organizationSection snippetsPreparing for surgery

Perioperative experiences can be intense and anxiety provoking for patients and caregivers.1 Children with anxiety prior to surgery experience more pain and exacerbated behavioral problems, difficulty sleeping, separation anxiety, and are less likely to cooperate fully with postoperative recommendations.2,3 Given this knowledge, it is important for surgical clinicians to consider interventions that reduce anxiety and mitigate harm.

Psychological preparation is an innovative approach to engage

Common preparation methods

In most clinical settings, preparation for a child’s surgery includes sharing extensive information about the surgery from the child’s surgeon and other clinicians, including physician assistants and advanced practice nurses. This information is frequently focused on details about the actual surgery (what will be done), including the risks and benefits, with less of a focus on information that would be more relevant to the child, such as what they will see and feel both before and after the

Role of a pediatric psychologist

In an effort to address these shortcomings, a clinical service has been created at the author’s institution in which a pediatric psychologist is embedded within the Department of Surgery to provide psychological support and enhanced preparation to children and their families prior to scheduled surgeries. This service is built upon prior research that suggests that pre-operative psychological support4 that includes providing detailed sensory information about the entire perioperative experience9,

Practicalities and considerations

Overall, providing families with more comprehensive and individualized opportunities to prepare for what they will experience throughout the perioperative journey appears to be ideal. Realistically, however, hospitals might have concerns regarding cost, especially in times of great financial strain and uncertainty, and space for the visits. Fortunately, unlike child life specialists whose services are provided at no additional cost to the patient, pediatric psychologists can bill for their

Conclusion

Research has shown that psychological preparation for surgical care reduces perioperative anxiety and improves postoperative outcomes. Hospitals should consider the inclusion of pediatric psychologists as a standard part of pediatric surgical care to provide enhanced preparation, which includes providing tailored and detailed information about the entire perioperative experience, teaching effective coping strategies, and addressing the unique needs and concerns of each child and caregiver. This

Author information

Lauren Mednick, PhD is a clinical psychologist at Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts. She received her doctorate in child clinical psychology, with an emphasis in health psychology, from the George Washington University. Her clinical work primarily focuses on helping prepare patients and their caregivers for surgeries and other medical procedures. Dr Mednick has also written about and given many presentations locally and nationally to medical professionals and families about the

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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