title: Children's perceptions of their cerebral palsy and their impact on life satisfaction.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess an individual child's cognitive and emotional perceptions of their cerebral palsy (CP) and how these are associated with their reported life satisfaction and their functional walking ability.
  
  
  METHODS
  Convenience sample of 48 children with cerebral palsy, GMFCS (Gross Motor Function Classification System) I-IV, mean age of 12.2 ± 2.5 years was recruited from tertiary level out-patient clinics. All children completed the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire-Cerebral Palsy version (BIPQ-CP), Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS) and 1- and 6-min walk tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children with CP reported levels of global life satisfaction (mean score 31.4/42) equivalent to previous studies of typically developing children. Higher total SLSS scores were associated with lower concern about CP (rho = -0.61, p < 0.001), lower emotional impact (rho = -0.58, p < 0.001), fewer perceived consequences (rho = -0.53, p < 0.001) and perceptions of higher levels of personal control (rho = 0.40, p = 0.01). Multiple regression models using BIPQ-CP constructs found that a combination of lower level of concern and fewer perceived consequences predicted 46% of the variance in SLSS score (p < 0.001). GMFCS levels, walk distance and age were not significant predictors of life satisfaction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Life satisfaction in this group of children was strongly associated with a child's perceptions of their CP but was not associated with functional walking ability. Although the cross-sectional nature of the study precludes assumptions of causality, understanding children's cognitive and emotional beliefs about their cerebral palsy would seem to be an important adjunct to clinical management.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, University of Auckland ,  Auckland ,  New Zealand.
authors.forename: Jimmy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.forename: Anna H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Mackey
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Broadbent
authors.forename: N Susan
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Stott
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D010045:Outpatients; D010465:Perception; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016138:Walking