When a preschool child is hospitalized without adequate preparation, how does the child often react to the hospitalization?

A) Sees it as a punishment
B) A threat to child's self-image
C) An opportunity for regression
D) Loss of companionship with friends

If a toddler is not prepared for hospitalization, a typical preschooler fantasy is to attribute the hospitalization to punishment for real or imagined misdeeds. Attributing the hospitalization to punishment for real or imagined misdeeds is a reaction typical of toddler and school-age children when threatened with loss of control.