Putting the pieces together: preliminary efficacy of a family problem-solving intervention for children with traumatic brain injury.
OBJECTIVE
To describe a family-centered problem-solving intervention (FPS) for pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI), and to assess the efficacy of the intervention in a randomized clinical trial.


METHODS
Families of 32 school-aged children with moderate to severe TBI randomly assigned to FPS or usual care (UC) group.


METHODS
Child Behavior Checklist, Brief Symptom Inventory, Conflict Behavior Questionnaire.


METHODS
Seven-session problem-solving/skill-building intervention delivered over a 6-month period for the participating families.


RESULTS
Parents in the FPS group reported significantly greater improvements in their children in internalizing symptoms, anxiety/depression, and withdrawal than did parents in the UC comparison group.


CONCLUSIONS
FPS holds promise for reducing child behavior problems, the most common and persistent sequelae of TBI.
Wade
Shari L
SL
Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Ohio 45229, USA. shari.wade@cchmc.org
Michaud
Linda
L
Brown
Tanya Maines
TM
D000293:Adolescent; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011340:Problem Solving; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D016896:Treatment Outcome