A new study has linked childhood TBI to higher anxiety and depression rates, with family resilience tied to lower risks after injury.
The study looked at school-age children and teenagers with medically diagnosed traumatic brain injury, a blow or jolt to the head that affects brain function.
Researchers from the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, The Ohio State University and the University of Washington analysed data on US children and teenagers aged six to 17.
They looked at links between medically diagnosed TBI and mental and physical health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, frequent headaches and chronic pain.
They also assessed whether those links varied depending on levels of family resilience.
The study found that children and teenagers with TBI had a higher prevalence of poor health than those without TBI, including increased odds of current anxiety, frequent headaches and chronic pain.
Henry Xiang, principal investigator in the Center for Injury Research and Policy and senior author of the study, said: “Our study shows that the impact of traumatic brain injury in children often extends well beyond the initial injury.
“Children who experience TBI face increased risks of mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression, highlighting the importance of routine mental health screening and long-term follow-up care.”
The study also found that family resilience was associated with lower odds of depression after TBI.
Family resilience describes how families respond to stress, communicate effectively and draw on shared strengths during a crisis or major family event.
Xiang said: “One of the most encouraging findings from our research is that family resilience appears to play an important role in a TBI patient’s recovery.
“Children recovering from traumatic brain injury who grow up in supportive families may have lower risks of long-term mental health problems.
“Strengthening family support systems and resilience may be an important pathway to improving TBI patients’ long-term outcomes.”
Researchers said the findings underline the importance of strategies families can use to build resilience during recovery.
Christine Koterba, paediatric neuropsychologist at Nationwide Children’s, who was not involved in the study, said: “Recovery following brain injury in children is about so much more than the child themselves, recovery happens in many contexts with many people, with home and primary caregivers being some of the most important.
“I see how recovery actually happens outside the brain, in environments where children spend their time surrounded by steady caregivers in their lives.
“This study opens the door for future research focused on caregiver resilience.”
The cross-sectional study used data from the 2022 and 2023 National Survey of Children’s Health.
A cross-sectional study examines information from a group of people at one point in time, meaning it can show links between factors but cannot prove cause and effect.
The survey collects caregiver-reported data on health and wellbeing, healthcare access, family environments and social determinants of health for children and adolescents aged up to 17 across all 50 US states and the District of Columbia.
