Changes in Scoliosis Patient and Parental Assessment of Mental Health in the Course of Cheneau Brace Treatment Based on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
Bracing for scoliosis keeps mental-health ratings flat, so look elsewhere if mood or behavior changes.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Maciej et al. (2013) asked kids with scoliosis and their parents to fill out the SDQ-25. The form asks about emotions, behavior, and peer problems.
They filled it out twice: once before starting a back brace and again one year later. No control group was used.
What they found
After a year of wearing the brace, neither the kids nor the parents saw any clear change in mental-health scores. The numbers moved a little, but not enough to matter.
How this fits with other research
Golubović et al. (2013) also had teens and parents rate the same teen. They found only so-so agreement on quality-of-life scores. Maciej saw the same pattern: parent and child SDQ-25 scores lined up only modestly.
Jones et al. (2010) showed that both kids with Prader-Willi syndrome and their parents felt bad about body image. Maciej adds a new group—scoliosis—showing that parent-youth dyads can share worries yet still rate mental health differently.
Lin et al. (2010) counted spinal problems in teens with intellectual disability. Their work reminds us that spine issues often ride along with other diagnoses, so mental-health checks should stay broad.
Why it matters
If you treat adolescents in back braces, you can tell families that the brace itself is unlikely to hurt or help mental-health scores. Keep watching both the teen’s and the parent’s view—they often differ. Use simple check-ins like the SDQ-25 at intake and every six months, but don’t panic over tiny score shifts.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
In the presented study we aimed to investigate the influence of bracing time on perception of mental health by both parents and children with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) longitudinally, in relation to socio-demographic and scoliosis-related data. The study design was comprised of three questionnaire assessments, with the second and the third evaluation taking place 6 and 12 months after the beginning of the study, respectively. Thirty-six AIS females treated conservatively and their parents completed the Polish versions of The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-25 (SDQ-25). The results indicated psychiatric disorder was unlikely, but concern all SDQ-25 parent and patient domains and general results. Patient results do not differ significantly in regards to the total score and the particular domains of the SDQ-25. Parents SDQ-25 results differ significantly in regards to the emotional symptoms domain only (p = .023, after Bonferroni correction, the difference is insignificant). The study groups differ significantly within the 2nd evaluation in regards to hyperactivity/inattention domain (p = .026) and within the last evaluation in regards to emotional symptoms domain (p = .009). After Bonferroni correction the differences are insignificant. In general, parents and their children with AIS perceived patients' mental health in a similar way. Patient and parent assessment of mental health was unchanged after a 12-month brace treatment period. Poor psychological outcome was associated with more severe spinal deformity, brace-wearing duration and age of patient.
Journal of developmental and physical disabilities, 2013 · doi:10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181fef60f