Children who experience traumatic brain injury – even mild TBI – have a greater risk of experiencing emotional and behavioural problems, research has revealed.
Young people with a mild TBI experienced a 15 per cent increased risk of an emotional or behavioural problems, the study found.
The risk was greatest in children aged around ten.
Researchers found that children who had a significant hit to the head, but did not meet diagnostic criteria for a mild TBI, also had an increased risk of these behavioural and emotional problems.
The study from the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, at the University of Rochester, supports previous findings around the long-term impact of mild TBI in children, which showed that one in four children could have chronic post-concussion symptoms for years afterwards.
TBI at a young age may also lead to reduced brain size in some children and teenagers, which can be linked to cognitive problems, research has also shown.
“These hits to the head are hard to study because much of it depends on recall of an injury, since the impacts do not all require a visit to a doctor,” said Daniel Lopez, first author of the study.
“But being able to analyse longitudinal data from a large cohort and ask important questions like this gives us valuable information into how a TBI, even a mild one, impacts a developing brain.”
Researchers used MRI and behavioural data collected from thousands of children who participated in the Adolescence Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.
The ten-year study follows children through to early adulthood and looks at how biological development, behaviours and experiences impact brain maturation and other aspects of their lives, including academic achievement, social development, and overall health.
Researchers hope future ABCD Study data will better reveal the impact these head hits have on mental health and psychiatric problems.
“We know some of the brain regions associated with increased risk of mental health problems are impacted during a TBI,” said Dr Ed Freedman, associate professor of neuroscience and co-principal investigator of the ABCD Study at the University of Rochester.
“With more time and data, we hope to gain a better understanding of the long-term impact of even a mild TBI.”
