Parental and Family Functioning as Predictors of Longitudinal Trajectories of Postconcussive Symptoms Following Pediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: An Advancing Concussion Assessment in Pediatrics Study
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View abstract on PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.Parental factors significantly influence pediatric mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) recovery. This study identified distinct post-injury symptom trajectories and linked them to family functioning, guiding targeted interventions for better child outcomes.
Area Of Science
- Pediatric neurology and rehabilitation
- Child psychology and development
- Family systems and intervention research
Background
- Family environment is crucial for pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) recovery, yet parental and family factors in mild TBI (mTBI) are understudied.
- Conventional analyses of postconcussive symptoms (PCS) assume homogeneity in pediatric mTBI, overlooking diverse recovery patterns.
- Distinct symptom trajectories over time are likely in children following mTBI.
Purpose Of The Study
- To identify distinct trajectories of postconcussive symptoms (PCS) in children and adolescents after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).
- To examine the association between these PCS trajectories and parental/family functioning.
- To inform the development of family-based interventions for pediatric mTBI recovery.
Main Methods
- Group-based multitrajectory modeling was employed to identify latent clusters of children with similar PCS patterns.
- 506 children (8-16 years) with mTBI were recruited from emergency departments; data collected on injury, PCS, and family functioning.
- Validated measures assessed family functioning, parental adjustment, social support, and parental responses to symptoms over 6 months.
Main Results
- Six distinct PCS trajectories were identified, including 'low acute/resolved', 'low acute/declining', 'moderate acute/elevated cognitive', 'moderate acute/declining', 'high acute/declining', and 'high acute/persisting'.
- Parental adjustment, protectiveness, and perceived social support independently predicted trajectory membership.
- These parental factors remained significant predictors after controlling for demographic and injury characteristics.
Conclusions
- Children exhibit diverse PCS trajectories following mTBI, challenging the assumption of a homogenous recovery.
- Specific aspects of parental and family functioning are critical predictors of these symptom trajectories.
- Findings support the development of family-centered treatments to target children at risk for prolonged recovery after pediatric mTBI.
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