Putting the pieces together: preliminary efficacy of a family problem-solving intervention for children with traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Objective: To describe a family-centered problem-solving intervention (FPS) for pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI), and to assess the efficacy of the intervention in a randomized clinical trial.

Participants: Families of 32 school-aged children with moderate to severe TBI randomly assigned to FPS or usual care (UC) group.

Main outcome measures: Child Behavior Checklist, Brief Symptom Inventory, Conflict Behavior Questionnaire.

Intervention: Seven-session problem-solving/skill-building intervention delivered over a 6-month period for the participating families.

Results: Parents in the FPS group reported significantly greater improvements in their children in internalizing symptoms, anxiety/depression, and withdrawal than did parents in the UC comparison group.

Conclusions: FPS holds promise for reducing child behavior problems, the most common and persistent sequelae of TBI.