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Timing of traumatic brain injury in childhood and intellectual outcome

Louise M Crowe1, Cathy Catroppa, Franz E Babl

  • 1Critical Care and Neuroscience, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Australia. louise.crowe@mcri.edu.au

Journal of Pediatric Psychology
|June 7, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Children with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in middle childhood showed the worst cognitive outcomes. This suggests middle childhood may be a critical period for brain development following TBI.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatric Traumatology

Background:

  • Previous research on traumatic brain injury (TBI) outcomes often compared only two age groups.
  • The impact of injury timing across childhood development requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine if age at injury influences recovery following TBI based on early vulnerability or critical developmental periods models.
  • To investigate cognitive outcomes (IQ) in children with TBI across different age-at-injury groups.

Main Methods:

  • 181 children with TBI were categorized into four age-at-injury groups: infant, preschool, middle childhood, and late childhood.
  • Participants were assessed at least two years post-TBI using IQ tests.

Main Results:

  • Children injured during middle childhood exhibited the lowest IQ scores across all assessed domains.
  • Infants and preschoolers with TBI scored lower than those injured in late childhood on nonverbal and processing speed measures.

Conclusions:

  • Contrary to the hypothesis of early vulnerability, middle childhood emerged as a period of heightened risk for poorer cognitive outcomes after TBI.
  • These findings suggest that middle childhood may represent a critical developmental window where TBI has a more significant negative impact on cognitive function.
Abstract

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