title: Psychosocial outcomes among youth with spinal cord injury and their primary caregivers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Past research has found youth with disabilities to experience poor psychosocial outcomes, but little is known about factors related to psychosocial health among youth with spinal cord injury (SCI).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe psychosocial health among youth with SCI, examine relationships between psychosocial outcomes and demographic and injury-related factors, and examine relationships between aspects of psychosocial health. Youth activity, participation, quality of life (QOL), coping, anxiety and depression, and caregiver mental health were included.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected as part of a prospective study of 420 youth with SCI ages 1-18 and their primary caregivers. Activity data were also presented from a study developing a computerized adaptive testing (CAT) platform with 226 youth with SCI ages 8-21.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although relationships varied by factor, youth outcomes were related to youth age, sex, age at injury/injury duration, and level/extent of injury. Caregiver mental health related to child age and age at injury. Further, relationships were uncovered between aspects of psychosocial health: aspects of youth mental health were related to youth participation and QOL, youth coping was related to youth mental health, participation, and QOL, and caregiver mental health was related to child mental health and QOL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Psychosocial outcomes relate to each other and vary by child and injury-related factors and should be understood in a comprehensive, developmental context. Identifying best measures of activity and psychosocial functioning among youth with SCI and understanding factors related to their psychosocial health is critical to improving outcomes for the pediatric-onset SCI population.
authors: Shriners Hospitals for Children , Chicago , Illinois ; University of Illinois , Chicago , Illinois.
authors: Erin H
authors: EH
authors: Kelly
authors: Mary Jane
authors: MJ
authors: Mulcahey
authors: Sara J
authors: SJ
authors: Klaas
authors: Heather F
authors: HF
authors: Russell
authors: Caroline J
authors: CJ
authors: Anderson
authors: Lawrence C
authors: LC
authors: Vogel
keywords: caregivers; outcomes assessment; psychosocial factors; spinal cord injuries; youth