Social and Behavioral Outcomes: Pre-Injury to Six Months following Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

This study aimed to extend the limited research investigating social and behavioral outcomes following childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI). The study compared pre-and post-injury measures of these skills and investigated the role of pre-injury child status and pre-injury family functioning in the prediction of outcome at six months post-injury. A secondary aim was to compare rates of impairment at six months post-injury between children post-TBI and a typically developing (TD) control group. This study comprised 140 children, 97 survivors of TBI (67 males) and 43 TD children (24 males), matched for age, sex, and socio-economic status. All participants were ascertained between 2007 and 2010, and were between ages 5.5 and 15.0 years. Children with TBI represented consecutive hospital admissions and were recruited at time of injury into a longitudinal study. TD children were recruited from the community, through local schools chosen to provide a range of socio-economic backgrounds. Findings indicated a deterioration of social participation skills post-injury, particularly for those sustaining a more severe injury, and a consistently higher rate of impairment in social and behavioral outcomes in the TBI group. Pre-injury function, injury severity and restrictions to social participation (e.g., reduced sport activities) as recommended by clinicians contributed significantly to outcome. Difficulties are evident in the short-term post-childhood TBI in social and behavioral domains. It is essential to monitor children long-term, particularly as societal expectations and demands increase.

Frontal Lobe Contusion in Mice Chronically Impairs Prefrontal-Dependent Behavior

“…The frontal CCI mouse model provides a behavioral foundation for exploring the effect of TBI on frontal lobe regions and their functionalities. The model recapitulates OFC-dependent deficits seen in human patients while sparing the function of the mPFC and hippocampus [ 11 , 50 , 51 ]. The specificity of the model’s behavioral outcome distinguishes the OFC as a region of interest for future studies to differentiate the effects of parietal and frontal contusions and identify potential mechanisms that may not be affected in parietal injury models without severe damage to the brain.…”

Social dysfunction after pediatric traumatic brain injury: A translational perspective

“…In several studies, severe TBI in young children has been associated with poorer social interactions and social communication compared to complicated-mild or moderate TBI (Catroppa et al, 2008; Catroppa et al, 2015; Ewing-Cobbs et al, 2013). Supporting this concept, experimental studies in which the brain insult was considered mild or concussive typically failed to detect social deficits (Bajwa et al, 2016; Shultz et al, 2012; Shultz et al, 2011), although such an interpretation may be confounded by differing test conditions and measures with differing sensitivities.…”

The Cellie Coping Kit for Children with Injury: Initial feasibility, acceptability, and outcomes

“…For example, up to 4 years postburn, 18.6% of children still met posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) criteria; those with PTSD were especially at risk of impaired quality of life (QOL; Landolt, Buehlmann, Maag, & Schiestl, ). Children with TBI face challenges such as impaired social skills, challenging behaviours, changes in personality, and decreased executive functioning (Catroppa et al, ; Wilde et al, ). Children with TBI commonly experience impairments in QOL and anxiety disorders including PTSD (Albicini & McKinlay, ; Dijkers, ).…”