Article

PURPOSE: 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. METHOD: 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.

Langue : ANGLAIS