This clinical trial aims to evaluate the efficacy of a telecare-mediated psychosocial and cognitive intervention for children and adolescents aged 7 to 17 with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. This group-based intervention (comprising 5 participants) consists of 12 weekly one-hour sessions. The objective of the intervention is to improve the participants' quality of life as well as to reduce their symptomatology by targeting areas such as social cognition, emotional and personal management, cognitive restructuring, relaxation strategies, social skills, and coping strategies.
To be diagnosed with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy
Being between 7 and 17 years old
Having signed an informed consent form through their legal guardians prior to participation in the study
Having Spanish as one of their main languages
Presence of any other diagnosis or sensory deficit that would prevent the application of the tests or hinder the correct performance of the intervention's activities
Being illiterate
Parallel
Neuro-psychosocial teleassistance program
BehavioralThe intervention is carried out in groups of 5 participants and is organised in 12 sessions: 1 session per week of 1h duration. The objective of the intervention is to improve the participants' quality of life as well as to reduce their symptomatology by targeting areas such as social cognition, emotional and personal management, cognitive restructuring, relaxation strategies, social skills, and coping strategies.
Social cognition - Emotion Recognition
Affect Recognition subtest of the Social Perception Domain of the NEPSY-II in the Spanish edition (Korkman et al., 2014) measures the capacity to identify emotions (happy, sad, neutral, afraid, irrationally angry, and disgust) in various images of children.
Social cognition - Theory of mind - NEPSY-II
Theory of Mind subtest of the Social Perception Domain of the NEPSY-II in the Spanish edition (Korkman et al., 2014) assesses figurative language, imitation skills, and the capacity to comprehend the thoughts, ideas, and beliefs of others and it also evaluates a person's capacity to comprehend how emotions relate to the social context.
Social cognition - Theory of mind - Happé's Strange Stories
The Happé's Strange Stories Test is a well-known test of ToM (Happé, 1994; Spanish version: Pousa, 2002). In this study, we used the White et al. (2009) version that has eight story-types. This test evaluates participants' capacity to comprehend nonliteral meanings through the reading of brief vignettes.
Health-related quality of life
How an individual's health status impacts their overall well-being and ability to lead a satisfying life The perception of HRQoL is assessed in both healthy and chronically ill children using the Spanish version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQLTM 4.0) (Varni et al., 2001). We used the self-report questionnaire in this study for three age ranges: 5-7, 8-12, and 13-18. Physical functioning, emotional functioning, social functioning, and academic functioning are the four dimensions covered by the 23-item assessment. The PedsQL 4.0 provides a physical and a psychosocial summary score in addition to a total score. It is answered through a likert scale with 5 response options that are then converted into quantitative scores ranging from 0-100 points, with a higher score being a better HRQoL.
Health-related quality of life neuromuscular
How an individual's health status impacts their physical well-being and ability to communicate their disease The perception of HRQoL is assessed in both healthy and chronically ill children using the Spanish version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Neuromuscular (PedsQLTM Neuromuscular) (Varni et al., 2001). We used the self-report questionnaire in this study for three age ranges: 5-7, 8-12, and 13-18. Neuromuscular disease, communication and family functioning are the three dimensions covered by the 25-item assessment. The PedsQL Neuromuscular provides a physical and a communication skills summary score in addition to a total score. It is answered through a likert scale with 5 response options that are then converted into quantitative scores ranging from 0-100 points, with a higher score being a better HRQoL.
Children's Depression Inventory-Short
Depression symptoms The Children's Depression Inventory-Short (Kovacs, 1992; Spanish version: Barrio et al. 2012) measures key signs of depression such as sadness, sleep issues, and low self-esteem in just a few. It is a 10-item self-report questionnaire designed to quickly screen for depressive symptoms in youths aged 7 to 17. Each choice is scored from 0 to 2, with higher scores reflecting greater symptom severity.
Child Medical Fear
To what children have fear in a medical context The Child Medical Fear scale (Broome et al., 1988; Spanish version: San Martin-Rodriguez et al., 2021) is an assessment tool used to measure a child's anxiety and fear regarding medical events and healthcare environments. It has 17 items in total, and the scores are rated on a 3-point Likert scale: Not at all (0 points), A little (1 point), and A lot (2 points). It helps pediatricians and psychologists identify specific triggers-such as physical pain or loss of control-so they can tailor medical care to reduce a child's stress.
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