Premium
A systematic review of psychological interventions to alleviate cognitive and psychosocial problems in children with acquired brain injury
Author(s) -
ROSS KIMBERLEY A,
DORRIS LIAM,
MCMILLAN TOM
Publication year - 2011
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/j.1469-8749.2011.03976.x
Subject(s) - psychosocial , psychological intervention , cognition , medline , acquired brain injury , clinical psychology , psychology , intervention (counseling) , medicine , psychiatry , physical therapy , rehabilitation , political science , law
Aim It is now generally accepted that paediatric acquired brain injury (ABI) can have an impact on a child’s cognitive, social, and behavioural functioning. However, the lack of guidelines on effective interventions for the affected children and their families, particularly beyond the acute recovery phase, can limit access to effective support. We provide a systematic review of the literature on the effectiveness of psychological interventions aimed at alleviating cognitive and psychosocial outcomes after paediatric ABI. Method The search used the Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Knowledge, and EBSCO databases and hand searches of key journals. Nine studies met inclusion criteria: five intervention studies of cognitive outcome and four of psychosocial outcome. Effect sizes and methodological quality ratings were calculated using specific criteria. Results Only two of the nine studies were rated as high quality. There was limited evidence for effective interventions for cognitive outcomes (attention, memory, and learning difficulties). For psychosocial outcomes, there was evidence that interventions can alleviate internalizing symptoms. Interpretation Although there are some encouraging findings, there is a need for further, more rigorously designed, and better controlled research in this important area. We discuss how future research may consider issues such as age‐appropriate interventions, the delivery format, and optimum post‐injury timing of interventions, as well as multicentre collaborations.