– Where no psychosocial or interventional support is provided, children with acquired brain injury (ABI) are at significant risk of serious long-term behavioural and social difficulties. The purpose of this paper is to report the six- and 18-month long-term treatment effects of a family centred behavioural intervention to help families manage and prevent challenging behaviours in children following ABI.
– In total, 31 parents were followed up at three time points (post-intervention, 6 and 18 months) after participating in an ABI adapted manualised “Signposts for Building Better Behaviour” programme (Hudson et al., 2003).
– Attrition rates were highest amongst families caring for a child with mild ABI. The maintenance of treatment effects were detailed for those families who reported a reduction in challenging behaviour immediately post-intervention. There were no significant elevations in challenging child behaviour, maladaptive parenting, or family dysfunction for any participants over the long-term follow-up. Irrespective of injury severity, parents reported high levels of satisfaction and efficacy in the parenting role at 18 months post-intervention.
– “Signposts” has further demonstrated its clinical viability by meeting the needs of parents who have a child with ABI in both the short- and longer-term.
