The prevalence, characteristics, and psychiatric correlates of traumatic brain injury in incarcerated individuals: an examination in two independent samples.
Brett S Schneider, David B Arciniegas, Carla Harenski and 3 others
PMID 35067151WHAT IT FOUND
Traumatic brain injury affects half of incarcerated men and women, often from assault or car accidents.
In women, a history of mild TBI linked to higher PTSD symptoms and depression diagnoses. Men showed no significant rise in mental illness symptoms from mild TBI, though alcohol use disorder rates were higher in both sexes.
Key findings
01TBI prevalence was 55.2% in incarcerated men and 67.2% in incarcerated women in the Wisconsin sample, with similar high rates in the New Mexico sample.
02Women with a history of mild TBI reported significantly greater PTSD symptoms and had higher rates of major depressive disorder than women with no TBI history.
03Men with a history of mild TBI did not show significant differences in PTSD or depression symptoms compared to men with no TBI history.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
TBI history was based on retrospective self-report without verification from medical records. The Wisconsin subset analysis excluded individuals with moderate or severe TBI, so findings apply only to mild TBI. The study did not measure specific externalizing behaviors like aggression or impulsivity, which are often associated with TBI. Participants in the Wisconsin subset were selected for a study on psychopathy, which may limit generalizability to the broader prison population. The study cannot determine if TBI caused the psychiatric symptoms or if other factors contributed to both.
Declared interests
The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (Extramural). The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that mild TBI causes depression or PTSD in incarcerated men. The study found no significant link between mild TBI and these internalizing symptoms in men, unlike in women. Additionally, do not generalize these findings to individuals with moderate or severe TBI in the Wisconsin analysis, as they were excluded from the symptom assessment subset.