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Camp‐based psychosocial intervention dosage and changes in independence in young people with spina bifida
Author(s) -
Driscoll Colleen F Bechtel,
Murray Caitlin B,
Holbein Christina E,
StilesShields Colleen,
Cuevas Gina,
Holmbeck Grayson N
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1111/dmcn.14250
Subject(s) - spina bifida , psychosocial , intervention (counseling) , psychology , psychological intervention , developmental psychology , medicine , clinical psychology , pediatrics , psychiatry
Aim To examine associations between camp‐based intervention dosage and changes in independence‐related skills for young people with spina bifida. Method Participants were 110 individuals (mean age [ SD ] 14y 7mo [6y 1mo], range 6–32y; 66 females, 54 males) who attended a summer camp for individuals with spina bifida between 2 to 6 times (mean 2.40; operationalized as ‘dosage’). Parents of young campers (e.g. those <18y) also participated in data collection. Campers and/or parents completed preintervention measures assessing campers’ level of medical responsibility, mastery over medical tasks, and social skills. Outcomes included change in preintervention scores from dose 1 to final dose. Results Hierarchical regression analyses with and without covariates (age, IQ , and lesion level at dose 1) revealed that increased dosage was significantly associated with greater parent‐reported improvements in campers’ medical responsibility and mastery over medical tasks. Increased dosage was also significantly associated with camper‐report of increased medical responsibility, but this relationship was no longer significant when including covariates. Intervention dosage was not associated with changes in campers’ social skills. Interpretation Repeated participation in a camp‐based intervention was associated with improvements in condition‐related independence. Future work may focus on the development of interventions to promote improvements in social skills for young people with spina bifida. What this paper adds Participating in an intervention over multiple summers is associated with increases in campers’ responsibility for spina bifida‐related tasks. Repeated summer camp intervention participation is associated with improved mastery over condition‐related tasks for campers with spina bifida. Repeated camp intervention participation is not associated with changes in social skills for campers with spina bifida.