title: Mothers report more child-rearing disagreements following early brain injury than do fathers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate differences between mother's and father's perceptions of marital relationship quality, child rearing disagreements, and family functioning over the initial 18 months following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in early childhood relative to an orthopedic-injury comparison group.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants included 147 parent-dyads of children with TBI (n = 53) and orthopedic injuries (OI; n = 94) who were between the ages of 3 and 7 years at injury. Family functioning, marital quality, and child-rearing disagreements were assessed shortly after injury and at 6, 12, and 18-month follow-ups, with ratings at the initial assessment completed to reflect preinjury functioning. Mixed model analyses were used to examine mother and father's reports of family functioning, marital quality, and child-rearing disagreements over time as a function of injury severity and parent gender.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found a significant Group x Gender interaction for ratings of love and parenting disagreements. As hypothesized, mothers of children with severe TBI rated the relationship as significantly less loving than did their partners, and mothers of children with both moderate and severe TBI endorsed more parenting disagreements than did their partners. However, fathers reported higher levels of family dysfunction than their partners, regardless of injury type or severity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Implications for treatment based on differences in mothers' and fathers' perceptions of family and marital functioning, and future directions for research, are discussed.
authors: Department of Psychology, Miami University, USA.
authors: Emily A
authors: EA
authors: Bendikas
authors: Shari L
authors: SL
authors: Wade
authors: Amy
authors: A
authors: Cassedy
authors: H Gerry
authors: HG
authors: Taylor
authors: Keith Owen
authors: KO
authors: Yeates
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002668:Child Rearing / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008149:Love; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009820:Ohio; D016487:Parenting; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution