Psychosocial Adjustment of Adolescents With Spina Bifida

The purpose of this longitudinal study is to evaluate a developmentally-oriented bio-neuropsychological model of adjustment in youth and young adults with spina bifida (SB). The theoretical framework for the study is a developmentally-oriented bio-neuropsychosocial model of psychological adjustment. Extensive multi-source (i.e., youth, peers, parents, teachers, health professionals, and medical chart) and multi-method (i.e., questionnaires, interviews, neuropsychological testing, and observational) data are collected across several predictor variable domains: (1) biological (i.e., severity of disability, current and past health status, pubertal development), (2) neuropsychological (i.e., executive functions and attention, language pragmatics and inference making skills, emotion recognition), and (3) social (i.e., observed and perceived social behaviors with peers and family). A multidimensional perspective on adjustment will is adopted insofar as the following constructs are assessed: internalizing symptoms (e.g., depression), externalizing symptoms (e.g., aggression), social adjustment, romantic relationship involvement, quality of life and functional status, school performance, vocational achievements, autonomy development, independent living, medical adherence, and the transition to adult medical care. Within the context of this model, several mediation and moderation models are being tested to identify underlying mechanisms for associations between variables and to determine whether variables within one domain can compensate for deficits in another domain.

This longitudinal study of youth with SB includes the following innovations: (1) videotaped social interactions between youth with SB and their close friends, (2) a comprehensive assessment of socially-relevant neuropsychological factors, (3) an extensive multi-respondent questionnaire- and interview-based evaluation of the targets' social adjustment, (4) an interview-based evaluation of the transition to emerging adulthood, and (5) an oversampling of Hispanic families.

Currently, the investigators are collecting Times 4, 5 and 6 longitudinal data on a cohort of 140 youth with SB (ages 8-15 at Time 1, ages 10-17 at Time 2, ages 12-19 at Time 3, ages 14-21 at Time 4, ages 16-23 at Time 5, ages 18-25 at Time 6). Parents and a close friend participate when youth participants are under 18 years of age; when participants are 18 years and older, they are the sole participator. Data is collected via trained research assistants during home visits.

Because of our efforts to select variables that are modifiable, findings of this study will inform interventions designed to address the social difficulties of youth with SB, interventions that facilitate young adults' full participation in the milestones of young adulthood, and the manuals of care that will be developed by the investigators. Moreover, findings will provide policy-relevant information to improve the transition to adult medical care for individuals with this debilitating birth defect.