Exploring the Caregiver-Reported Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children with Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have a persistent, negative, and disproportionate impact on children with disabilities. Children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) may be expected to experience a disproportionate impact given the deficits often associated with childhood TBI (e.g., family functioning, fatigue, executive functioning, quality of life). This study aimed to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children with TBI and their families, compared to typically developing (TD) children and their families. Thirty caregivers (TBI = 15; TD = 15) completed a series of electronic survey measures. Overall, caregivers reported no negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their family's or child's functioning and association with demographic factors and domains of functioning showed no clear patterns. The findings of this exploratory study support continued longitudinal investigation with larger sample sizes of the provision of supports for all families and children in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional research is needed to understand the effectiveness of targeted services for students with TBI in domains of functioning that are significantly poorer than TD children (e.g., quality of life, executive functioning, fatigue).