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.Conclusion: 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.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Original Article|
January 31 2012
Psychosocial Outcomes Among Youth with Spinal Cord Injury and Their Primary Caregivers
Erin Kelly;
Erin Kelly
1
Shriners Hospitals for Children, Chicago, Illinois
2
University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois
Search for other works by this author on:
Mary Mulcahey;
Mary Mulcahey
3
Shriners Hospitals for Children, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
4
Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Search for other works by this author on:
Sara Klaas;
Sara Klaas
1
Shriners Hospitals for Children, Chicago, Illinois
Search for other works by this author on:
Heather Russell;
Heather Russell
3
Shriners Hospitals for Children, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Search for other works by this author on:
Caroline Anderson;
Caroline Anderson
1
Shriners Hospitals for Children, Chicago, Illinois
Search for other works by this author on:
Lawrence Vogel
Lawrence Vogel
1
Shriners Hospitals for Children, Chicago, Illinois
5
Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois
Search for other works by this author on:
Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil (2012) 18 (1): 67–72.
Citation
Erin Kelly, Mary Mulcahey, Sara Klaas, Heather Russell, Caroline Anderson, Lawrence Vogel; Psychosocial Outcomes Among Youth with Spinal Cord Injury and Their Primary Caregivers. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil 1 January 2012; 18 (1): 67–72. doi: https://doi.org/10.1310/sci1801-67
Download citation file:
Citing articles via
Peripheral Vascular Dysfunction Following Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Thomas Thordarson, BSc, Tiev Miller, PhD, Martín Calderón-Juárez, MD, PhD, Ali Hosseinzadeh, BSc, Raza Malik, PhD, Rahul Sachdeva, PhD, Andrei V. Krassioukov, MD, PhD, FRCPC
Behavioral/Physical and Stimulation Interventions for Chronic Pain Following Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review
Linda Ehrlich-Jones, PhD, RN, Elise Olsen, BA, Angelika Kudla, MS, Jennifer Burns, BA, Nicole Sharf, MA, Q. Eileen Wafford, MST, MLIS, Allen W. Heinemann, PhD
No Beneficial Effects of the Alfasigma VSL#3 Probiotic Treatment After Cervical Spinal Cord Injury in Rats
Pamela J.F. Raposo, MSc, Antoinette T. Nguyen, PhD, Emma K.A. Schmidt, PhD, Abel Torres Espin, PhD, Keith K. Fenrich, PhD, David J. Bennett, PhD, Karim Fouad, PhD
Perspectives on Barriers to Use and Benefits of Functional Electrical Stimulation From Australians and New Zealanders With SCI and Clinicians and Researchers in the Field
Anne E. Palermo, PT, DPT, PhD, Edward Gorgon, PT, PhD, Antonio Vecchio, BS, Lisa Tedesco Triccas, PT, PhD, Euan McCaughey, PhD, Maggie Donovan-Hall, PhD
Breastfeeding After Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review of Prevalence and Associated Complications
Andrei Krassioukov, MD, PhD, Amanda H.X. Lee, MSc, MD (student), Stacy Elliott, MD, Teri Thorson, Nathan Agon-Chen, BKin, MPT, MD, Gavin Naicker, BSc, MBT, MD (student), Matthew Querée, MAppPsych, Janice Eng, PhD, BSc(PT/OT), SCIRE Team