The phenomenology of personality change due to traumatic brain injury in children and adolescents

J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2001 Spring;13(2):161-70. doi: 10.1176/jnp.13.2.161.

Abstract

The authors aimed to contribute a clinically rich description of personality change due to traumatic brain injury (PC) in children. The sample consisted of consecutively injured children. Ninety-four subjects ages 5 to 14 years were assessed at the time of hospitalization after a traumatic brain injury (TBI). A standardized psychiatric interview, the Neuropsychiatric Rating Schedule, was used to elicit symptoms of PC. PC occurred in 59% of severe (22/37) and 5% of mild/moderate (3/57) TBI subjects. Among the 37 severe TBI subjects, the labile subtype of PC was the most common (49%), followed by the aggressive and disinhibited subtypes (38% each), apathy (14%), and paranoia (5%). Also frequent in severe TBI was perseveration (35%). A detailed case example, numerous clinical vignettes of PC symptoms, and a tabulation of their frequencies provide clinicians a broader frame of reference for eliciting symptoms of PC.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Brain Injuries / complications
  • Brain Injuries / psychology*
  • Child
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Personality Assessment
  • Personality Development*
  • Personality Disorders / classification
  • Personality Disorders / etiology
  • Personality Disorders / psychology*
  • Prospective Studies
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Retrospective Studies