Are you doing what you want to do? Leisure preferences of adolescents with cerebral palsy

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed at describing leisure activity preferences of adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) and their relationship to participation and to identify factors associated with greater interest in particular leisure activities.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was used. Participants were adolescents (n = 127; 59.5% male; ages 12–19 years old; mean = 15.3; SD = 2.01 years) with CP (GMFCS levels: I 40%, II 33%, III–IV 26%), who could complete the Preferences for Activities of Children (PAC) and other self-report questionnaires.

Results: Social (2.53; 0.38) and active-physical activities were most preferred (2.10; 0.42), and self-improvement activities were least preferred (1.93; 0.49). Preference for certain activities was not strongly associated with actual involvement in these activities. Family activity-orientation, family expressiveness, and adolescent’s motivation explained 15% of the variance in preferences for social activities, and 37% of the variance in preferences for self-improvement activities.

Conclusion: Family factors, personal factors, and functional abilities influence leisure preferences. Rehabilitation interventions should consider adolescents’ preferences and family dynamics to promote leisure participation.

• Adolescents
• cerebral palsy
• leisure
• participation
• preferences

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the adolescents and families that participated in this study. We wish to thank our research coordinator, Anna Radzioch and research assistants Joey Waknin and Christopher Saunders. We would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the professionals who assessed participants in the study: OTs: Noemi Dahan-Oliel, Rena Birnbaum and Claudia de Luca/PTs: Melissa Turner, Shannon McShane/Psychologists: Lisa Steinbach, Mafalda Porporino, Chantal Martel, Catherine Zygmuntowicz, Sarah-Jane Renaud/Neurologists: Dr Shevell, Dr Poulin, Dr Moore, Dr Rosenblatt, Dr Srour, Dr Tremblay, Dr Oskoui.

This paper was presented (poster) at the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy Annual Meeting in Quebec, QC, June 2012.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

This study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). In addition, we were benefited from research infrastructure provided by the Montreal Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of the Greater Montreal (CRIR); both funded by FRSQ. K.S.-T. was supported by a doctoral award provided by the Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program (CCHCSP), NeuroDevNet, and the Montreal Children’s Hospital Research Institute/Foundation of Stars.