title: Perceptions of family participation among parents of children with cerebral palsy followed from infancy to toddler hood.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about the way parents of children with cerebral palsy (CP) perceive their involvement in family and personal life situations, also called 'family participation'.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the perception of family participation among parents of preschool children with CP.
  
  
  METHODS
  Semi-structured interviews were used to describe how parents (n=53) of children with CP (aged 18 months) perceive participation with respect to family activities and their personal activities. In addition, using a combined score of family and personal activities, we investigated the changes of parental (n=36) perceived family participation over time (followed from 18 months onwards until 42 months of age).
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the child's age of 18 months, a substantial percentage of parents expressed a feeling of being restricted in their family activities (45%) or personal activities (53%). The longitudinal data show that over the 24-month follow-up significant more parents perceived to be restricted in family participation (p = 0.008; Cochran's Q test).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A child with CP in a family may lead to parents perceiving restrictions in family participation. These restrictions arise early in the life of a child with CP and may become more prominent as the child grows older.
authors.affiliation: Rehabilitation Centre De Hoogstraat, Centre of Excellence for Rehabilitation Medicine Utrecht, The Netherlands. i.rentinck@dehoogstraat.nl
authors.forename: I C M
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Rentinck
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Gorter
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ketelaar
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lindeman
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Jongmans
mesh_terms: D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents