Selected Predictors of Parents’ Anxiety Levels When Entrusting the Care of a Child to a Nursery

The article addresses the parents’ anxiety during the separation from their child in the first days of stay in a nursery. For a parent, who is the first attachment figure for a child, separation is extremely difficult and stressful. The aim of presented research was to verify whether and to what extent, on the basis of such factors as the level of trait anxiety, gender, age of the parent or the number of children in the family, it is possible to predict the level of parents’ anxiety when entrusting children to nursery care. The study was done using State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI] scale and short questionnaire regarding the age and family conditions. Results indicate that the factors predicting the level of state anxiety of the parents who entrust the care of their children to nurseries, were the parent’s gender and the level of their trait anxiety. Mothers had significantly higher levels of anxiety than fathers, and the level of anxiety as a state was higher in parents who generally experienced higher anxiety measured as trait anxiety.