Publication
The long-term effects of childhood traumatic brain injury on adulthood relationship quality
Publisher:
Informa UK Limited
Date:
21-01-2019
DOI:
10.1080/02699052.2019.1567936
Abstract: To investigated the long-term effect of childhood Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) on adulthood Relationship Quality (RQ), examining injury severity, age of injury, and markers of prefrontal cortex (PFC) functioning, apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction. Longitudinal, between-subjects, cross-sectional design using retrospective and current data. Participants (N = 169 61 mild TBI (mTBI) 65 moderate to severe TBI (MSTBI) 43 orthopaedic injury (OI) Injury age: 1-17 years Testing age: 18-31 years) completed a structured interview regarding their injury, demographic characteristics and RQ, the National Adults Reading Test, and Frontal Systems Behaviour Scale. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 25. Adults who had experienced childhood TBI had significantly poorer RQ than adults who had experienced childhood OI. Severity of TBI did not impact adulthood RQ. Earlier age of injury predicted reduced adulthood RQ in the MSTBI group. Greater PFC dysfunction predicted poorer RQ in adults with a history of childhood TBI. While elevated levels of apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction were associated with poorer RQ, no in idual marker had predictive value. Experiencing a childhood TBI can have a long-term negative influence on adulthood RQ. Such RQ deficits can underpin reduced life satisfaction and increased health issues.