An exploratory examination of the role that lifestyle activity and extent of disability has on cognitive function and quality of life in adults with cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is a physiological disability that affects 3-3.5:1,000 live births in the US and is caused by malformation or damage to the brain during the early stages of development and while not the cause, prematurity and low birth weight are considered the primary risk-factors associated with a future diagnosis of cerebral palsy (by 2 years of age). According to the CDC, more than half of the individuals with cerebral palsy can walk independently or with the use of a walker. Roughly 40% or fewer with cerebral palsy have some form of intellectual or other co-occurring mental disability such as autism. A breadth of research has been conducted observing various non-physical benefits of regular exercise/physical activity as well as the negative impacts of a sedentary lifestyle. To better understand and serve those with cerebral palsy; study was interested in observing exercise/general physical activity/sedentary behavior. To determine if they relate to cognitive performance, extent of symptomology, and quality of life exist; and if so, to what extent. Adults with cerebral palsy (total n=148, 34 female) were recruited and completed all data collection online. General physical activity was observed to be significantly related to extent of disability and quality of life, exercise was observed to be negatively related to cognition, and both demographics and sedentary behavior were not significantly related to any of the test variables.
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- In Collections
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Electronic Theses & Dissertations
- Copyright Status
- In Copyright
- Material Type
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Theses
- Authors
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Henning, David A.
- Thesis Advisors
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Pontifex, Matthew B.
- Committee Members
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Paneth, Nigel
Pfeiffer, Karin
Hauck, Janet
- Date Published
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2020
- Program of Study
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Kinesiology - Doctor of Philosophy
- Degree Level
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Doctoral
- Language
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English
- Pages
- x, 101 pages
- ISBN
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9798661954589
- Permalink
- https://doi.org/doi:10.25335/c6t7-jk02