title: Developmental profiles and temperament patterns in children with spastic cerebral palsy: relationships with subtypes and severity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Elucidating developmental profiles and temperament patterns in children with cerebral palsy (CP) could help clinicians elaborate more flexible strategies for treating these children. This study investigated the developmental profiles and temperament patterns in children with spastic CP (sCP) of different subtypes and severities.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and five children, aged 3-6 years, with sCP and 66 children with typical development (TD) were analyzed. Children with sCP were classified into spastic diplegia (SD; n = 60), and spastic quadriplegia (SQ; n = 45) groups. Motor severity was classified via the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). Development quotients (DQs) of eight domains and temperament scores of nine dimensions were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SQ group had lower DQs in all developmental functions than the SD group (p < 0.01). The DQ distributions of developmental profiles showed the same trend in SD and SQ groups, and both groups displayed lowest DQs in the gross motor domain. The SQ group was less adaptable and approachable than the TD group (p < 0.05), and both sCP groups had lower attention span and persistence and a higher threshold of responsiveness than the TD group (p < 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that GMFCS levels were highly related to all developmental functions (r < -0.54, p<0.01) and weakly related to some temperament dimensions in children with sCP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The subtype and severity of sCP were associated with developmental profiles in children with sCP Temperament patterns were different between SD and SQ groups, but only weakly related to motor deficit. These data could allow clinicians to anticipate the developmental profiles and temperament patterns and plan appropriate therapeutic strategies for children with sCP.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Early Intervention, Department of Physical Therapy, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chia-Ling
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Keh Chung
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Ching-Yi
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Chia-Hui
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wen-Yu
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chung-Yao
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric