• J E Max, S D Lindgren, D A Robin, W L Smith, Y Sato, P J Mattheis, C S Castillo, and J A Stierwalt.
• Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City 52242, USA.
• J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 1997 Jun 1;185(6):394-401.

AbstractPsychiatric disorders may be common after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children, yet there is a death of prospective studies examining this problem. Fifty children aged 6 to 14, hospitalized after TBI, were assessed soon after TBI regarding preinjury psychiatric, behavioral, adaptive, and family functioning, family psychiatric history status and injury severity. The outcome measure was the presence of a "novel" psychiatric disorder (not present before the injury) during the second 3 months after the injury. Forty-two subjects were reassessed at 6 months. Severity of injury, family psychiatric history, and family function predicted a novel psychiatric disorder. Among children suffering a mild/moderate injury, those with preinjury lifetime psychiatric disorders were no longer (as they had been in the first 3 months) at higher risk than those without such a lifetime history. Thus, there appeared to be children, identifiable through clinical assessment, at increased risk for novel psychiatric disorders after TBI.

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