Parenting style impacts on quality of life in children with cerebral palsy.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the impact of parenting style and disease severity on quality of life (QOL) in children with cerebral palsy (CP).


METHODS
Thirty-nine children with CP, their siblings, and their parents participated in the study. Probands and siblings, ages 6 to 18 years, completed questionnaires on parenting style (accepting, rejecting, controlling, and autonomy allowing) using the Children's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory. Parents completed generic (Child Health Questionnaire [CHQ]) and disease-specific (Pediatric Outcomes Data Collecting Instrument [PODCI]) QOL questionnaires for both children. A physician determined disease severity with the Gross Motor Function Classification System.


RESULTS
In children with CP, parenting style positively correlated with the CHQ scores: physical summary and psychosocial summary (r = 0.40, P = .01) and family activities scale (r = 0.34, P = .03). Autonomy allowing parenting style impacted on psychosocial aspects of QOL, as reflected by CHQ scores, more than the degree of disability. In other domains of QOL, the effect of parenting style was greater than IQ, anxiety, and socioeconomic status.


CONCLUSIONS
Parenting style is a significant factor in QOL in CP and the only known factor to impact on the psychosocial domains of the CHQ, exceeding the effect of disease severity. Because QOL is an important treatment goal in children with CP, early family interventions, particularly those focusing on parenting style, should be considered.
Aran
Adi
A
Neuropediatric Unit, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. Adi.efrat.aran@gmail.com
Shalev
Ruth S
RS
Biran
Gali
G
Gross-Tsur
Varda
V
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology* / Q000639:trends; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires