title: Psychosocial adjustment in a Dutch sample of children with cerebral palsy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Over the last couple of years, there has been increasing interest for QoL in children with CP. Psychosocial adjustment in these children remains underrepresented in current literature.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe psychosocial adjustment in children with CP by means of the Psychosocial Adjustment and Role Skills Scale III (PARS-III), to describe the psychometric properties of this questionnaire, to identify a cut-off score for psychosocial maladjustment and to investigate the relationship between patient characteristics (i.e. predictive factors) and psychosocial adjustment.
  
  
  METHODS
  The parents of 93 children with CP (59 boys, 34 girls; mean age 12.3 years, SD 3.8; 4-18; GMFCS 1: 28, GMFCS 2: 5, GMFCS 3: 19, GMFCS 4: 18, GMFCS 5: 23) completed the PARS-III and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) concerning the psychosocial and behavioral functioning of their child.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cronbach's alpha-coefficient for the PARS-III was 0.89 indicating good internal consistency. High correlation with the CBCL was found. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the 6 domain structure of the PARS-III. Overall, children with CP achieved lower psychosocial adjustment scores compared to healthy children. A cut-off score (1 SD below the mean) of 78 was found. When predicting psychosocial maladjustment in children with CP, less gross motor function, hand function, communication skills and bilateral involvement of CP are the most important factors, but these can only explain 36% of variation in psychosocial adjustment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using the by-proxy version of the PARS-III it was found that children with CP are reported to achieve lower psychosocial adjustment scores than healthy children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Neurology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, The Netherlands. gfvles@gmail.com
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Vles
authors.forename: R G F
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Hendriksen
authors.forename: J S H
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Vles
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Kessels
authors.forename: J G M
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Hendriksen
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012574:Schools; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014910:Wheelchairs