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Quality of life and mental health can be affected in caregivers of children with CP. Personal resources like self-efficacy also need attention as they can help in the understanding of the differences in these outcomes and the design of effective interventions. RELEVANCE OF CLINICAL PRACTICE: Self-efficacy should be a key element in interventions addressed to parents of children with CP to elicit a process of empowerment that can improve the well-being of the family as a whole.

The main objective of this research was to explore which factors best predict the occurrence of burden on primary caregivers of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Understanding these factors enables the identification of those caregivers at risk of having their physical and psychological health adversely affected, and the implementation of intervention strategies to reduce the negative impact of caring on parents of children with chronic medical conditions. The study sample consisted of a total of 62 caregivers (89% women) aged between 30 and 54 years (Mean = 41.98, SD = 5.64). CP affected children were aged between 1 and 17 years (Mean = 7.69, SD = 4.18) and the average degree of disability (% reflected in the medical record assessed by the Ministry of health, social services and equality of Spain) was 77.098 (scale of 100) (SD = 14.62). A burden model was constructed based on multiple linear regressions. The model included the following variables: degree of disability, depression (assessed by Beck Depression Inventory-II) and self-efficacy (measured by the Revised Scale for Caregiving Self-Efficacy). The regression model explained 40.9% of the total variance. It was found that self-efficacy had a negative linear association with burden, while the degree of disability and depression showed a positive linear association. The most important predictors of caregiver burden were degree of disability, depression and self-efficacy. For this reason, we believe that it is necessary to develop interventions to reduce depression and enhance self-efficacy in parents of children with CP as one of the primary objectives for minimizing the burden on caregivers of disabled children.

The goal of this study was to investigate the variables that best predict functional impairment in children and adolescents. Two hundred and eight psychiatric and 129 pediatric children aged 7 to 17 years were assessed with measures of psychopathology, functional impairment, temperament, marital discord, educational style, coping, developmental milestones, stressful life events, medical history, school information, and family history of psychopathology. Multiple regression models adjusted by psychopathology were estimated. The global model, which included all the significant variables in partial models, revealed the following predictors of impairment: receiving review lessons, chronic disease or handicap, the presence of problems the child interpreted as stressful, late onset and long duration of psychopathological problems. These indicators could be useful for the proper identification of children with severe difficulties, in order to provide them with adequate psychological services.

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