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. 2008 Jul;33(6):621-9.
doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsm133. Epub 2008 Jan 28.

Family burden and parental distress following mild traumatic brain injury in children and its relationship to post-concussive symptoms

Kalaichelvi Ganesalingam  1 , Keith Owen Yeates, Melissa Susan Ginn, H Gerry Taylor, Ann Dietrich, Kathy Nuss, Martha Wright
Affiliations

Family burden and parental distress following mild traumatic brain injury in children and its relationship to post-concussive symptoms

Kalaichelvi Ganesalingam et al. J Pediatr Psychol. 2008 Jul.

Abstract

Objective: To examine the relationship of mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and post-concussive symptoms (PCS) to post injury family burden and parental distress, using data from a prospective, longitudinal study.

Methods: Participants included 71 children with mild TBI with loss of consciousness (LOC), 110 with mild TBI without LOC, and 97 controls with orthopedic injuries not involving the head (OI), and their parents. Shortly after injury, parents and children completed a PCS interview and questionnaire, and parents rated premorbid family functioning. Parents also rated family burden and parental distress shortly after injury and at 3 months post injury.

Results: Mild TBI with LOC was associated with greater family burden at 3 months than OI, independent of socioeconomic status and premorbid family functioning. Higher PCS shortly after injury was related to higher ratings of family burden and distress at 3 months.

Conclusions: Mild TBI are associated with family burden and distress more than mild injuries not involving the head, although PCS may influence post injury family burden and distress more than the injury per se. Clinical implications of the current findings are noted in the Discussion section.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Post-concussive symptoms by time interaction.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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