Efficacy of a new parent and school-supported intervention after moderate and severe childhood traumatic brain injury.

Introduction. Traumatic brain injury is a common cause of acquired disability during childhood. Early interventions focusing on parenting practices may prove effective at reducing negative child outcomes. Aim. To determine the efficacy of a new counselling program aimed at parents and schools compared to a control group. Patients and methods. The main study sample was obtained from a paediatric hospital. The final sample consisted of 42 children aged between 6 and 16 years old. Results. Comparing with normative data, pre-post comparisons between groups showed a significant improvement in the parent group with respect to the control group. Conclusions. The superiority of the parental intervention group over those of the control group was not only statistically significant, but also clinically substantial and meaningful. The results of this study suggest that children with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury can benefit from an intensive supported family treatment.