The Impact of Preinjury and Secondary Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder on Outcomes After Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury.
Megan E Narad, Eloise E Kaizar, Nanhua Zhang and 4 others
PMID 35170571WHAT IT FOUND
Adolescents with traumatic brain injury and either pre-existing or new-onset ADHD showed similar deficits in executive function, social competence, and behavior.
However, parents of teens with new-onset ADHD reported significantly higher depression and distress, particularly when the injury was more than four months prior.
Key findings
01Teens with pre-injury ADHD and those with new post-injury ADHD had similar levels of impairment in executive function, social competence, and overall behavior, both groups scoring worse than teens without ADHD.
02Parents of adolescents with new-onset post-injury ADHD reported significantly higher levels of depression and psychological distress compared to parents of teens without ADHD.
03The combination of new-onset ADHD and more than 0.32 years since injury was associated with the highest levels of parental depression and distress.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
ADHD status was determined solely by parent report, without objective measures or teacher input, which may affect accuracy. The sample was recruited for an intervention trial, potentially excluding families with less internet access or more severe impairments, limiting generalizability. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot determine causality or whether parental distress increases over time due to child symptoms. Injury severity was defined only by Glasgow Coma Scale scores, which may not fully capture the complexity of TBI outcomes.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the National Institute of Health (Extramural). No specific conflicts of interest were declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that pre-existing ADHD causes more family distress after TBI. The study found that parents of adolescents with new-onset ADHD reported higher levels of depression and distress, particularly as time since injury increased, suggesting that the novelty of the behavioral challenges may be a key factor in family burden.