Assessing psychosocial functioning following childhood acquired brain injury: The Sydney Psychosocial Reintegration Scale for Children

Abstract

Objective: The Sydney Psychosocial Reintegration Scale for Children (SPRS-C) assesses psychosocial functioning in children with acquired brain injury (ABI). This article aims to: (1) describe normative data for the parent-rated SPRS-C and, (2) evaluate the discriminant validity of the SPRS-C. Methods: For Aim 1, participants were parents of typically developing children (TDC) aged 5–14 years (N = 200). For Aim 2, participants with ABI were aged 5–14 years (n = 26). A matched group of TDC was sampled from the larger normative sample to serve as a control group (n = 26). Results: For Aim 1, SPRS-C scores across the 10 age-bands were in the higher ranges. Correlation coefficients of SPRS-C total score with child’s age and parent occupational skill level were not statistically significant. For Aim 2, SPRS-C scores for the ABI group were significantly lower than the control group. Conclusions: These data provide a guide for clinical interpretation of the SPRS-C for measuring psychosocial functioning in children with ABI.

Keywords:

• ABI
• normative study
• outcome measurement

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Vivienne Champness for her assistance with data collection. We also wish to thank all participants and their families who took part in this research.

Declaration of interest

This research was part of larger studies funded by the Lifetime Care and Support Authority of New South Wales. Additional funding was provided by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.