Parenting styles as a predictor of long-term psychosocial outcomes after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in early childhood.

This study sought to determine whether parenting styles predict long-term psychosocial outcomes after traumatic brain injury in young children. The study involved a concurrent cohort, prospective design, with longitudinal assessments up to early adolescence. Participants included 126 children with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury or orthopedic injury, ages 3 to 6 years 11 months, recruited between 2003 and 2006. Parents rated children's pre-injury behavioral adjustment, social competence, and executive functioning shortly after injury, and again 6.8 years post injury. Parents also rated their parenting styles (permissive, authoritarian, authoritative) at both occasions. After controlling for pre-injury functioning, the groups differed significantly on all three outcomes (ΔR 0.07 to 0.13). Late but not early parenting styles predicted outcomes in all groups (ΔR 0.06 to 0.17): more permissive parenting predicted worse outcomes in all domains (β= -0.18, 0.20, 0.27); and more authoritative parenting predicted better social competence and executive functioning (β= -0.17, 0.46). Severe traumatic brain injury interacted with parenting style for several outcomes, with ineffective parenting exacerbating the negative sequelae. Parenting style predicts children's long-term psychosocial functioning after early childhood injury, and may moderate the effects of early traumatic brain injury.Implications for rehabilitationChildren with traumatic brain injury (especially those with severe injuries) are likely to require long-term monitoring and rehabilitation to address their psychosocial functioning.Interventions that focus on parenting may be an important avenue for promoting better psychosocial outcomes among children with severe traumatic brain injury.