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

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.