Childhood physical disability refers to intrinsic biological or acquired conditions (e.g., cerebral palsy, spina bifida, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation) that cause impairments which result in disability and limited participation in day-to-day activities. As children grow and develop, there are many factors within the child, his or her family and the environment that have the potential to influence participation in the everyday activities of childhood. It is difficult to plan interventions to enhance participation without knowledge about which factors are the most important in what is, undoubtedly, a complex set of relationships. The proposed project, from the Neurodevelopmental Clinical Research Unit (NCRU) at McMaster University, is a longitudinal study of children with physical disabilities aged 5- 13 years to determine the child, family and environmental factors that enhance participation in the formal and informal activities of childhood. Innovative methodologies (structural equation modeling and a cross-sequential design) will be used to evaluate the relative contribution of child, family and environmental factors in determining participation of children with long-term, non-progressive physical conditions associated with physical functional limitations in day-to-day activities.
