An Evaluation of Social Cognition and Social Emotional Outcomes Following Pediatric Stroke

Following stroke, children experience cognitive sequelae, which may have a consequential impact on a childs functional outcomes and quality of life. An under-appreciated element of pediatric stroke is its impact on social cognition and, in turn, social-emotional outcomes. Stroke characteristics have been reported to be associated with social cognitive ability and social functioning. Neurological factors and their effect on social cognition remain to be better characterized. The objectives of the present research are to assess the impact of these stroke characteristics on social-emotional outcomes and evaluate social cognition as a mediator of this association.

The study results indicate that having a left hemisphere stroke predicts the likelihood of a child experiencing poorer social-emotional functioning, and that this association is fully mediated through social cognition. This work signals the importance of evaluating stroke characteristics when attempting to develop recovery phenotypes and the value of assessing for social cognitive deficits following stroke.