A – 45 Parental psychological flexibility and its association with early-phase recovery in a pediatric acquired brain injury post-pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) sample

Abstract Objective Pediatric acquired brain injury (ABI) is a common cause of disability in children. Many variables impact recovery across physical, cognitive, emotional, and social health domains. Parent factors including their own emotional health/wellbeing potentially influences child health outcomes following ABI. We utilized parent psychological flexibility self-ratings to better understand child recovery. Method A total of 231 youth aged 6-19 years were screened as part of a multidisciplinary follow-up clinic 4-6 weeks following hospital discharge. Parents/caregivers reported on their psychological flexibility via the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, II (AAQ-II). Thereafter, groups were established based on total AAQ-II scores: 1) low-risk (score 24). Kruskal-Wallis tests were utilized to investigate differences across AAQ-II risk groups on child focused recovery factors. Results Significant differences were observed across the AAQ-II risk groups for parent report of child focused quality of life H(2, N=231) =29.53, p=<.001; depression symptoms H(2, N=167)=35.08, p=<.001; anxiety symptoms H(2, N=165)=24.39, p=.001; pain behavior H(2, N=223)=15.58, p=<.001; sleep disturbances H(2, N=186)= 23.18, p=<.001; and executive function H(2, N= 50)=18.98, p=<.001. Also, compared to low-risk group, the high-risk group had significantly lower performance-based cognition H(2, N=111)=17.53, p=.046. Conclusion In addition to the direct effects on parents of children who survive ABI, such as an acute stress reaction, parent psychological flexibility may negatively impact families and interfere with rehabilitative progress. An argument could be made for integrating interventions designed to address parent emotional health/wellbeing into post-PICU care.