@article{ref1,
title="Predictors of family functioning after traumatic brain injury in children and adolescents",
journal="Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry",
year="1998",
author="Max, J. E. and Castillo, Carlos S. and Robin, D. A. and Lindgren, S. D. and Smith, W. L. and Sato, Y. and Mattheis, P. J. and Stierwalt, J. A.",
volume="37",
number="1",
pages="83-90",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: To assess factors predictive of family outcome in the first 2 years after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children and adolescents. METHOD: Subjects were children aged 6 to 14 at the time they were hospitalized after TBI. The study used a prospective follow-up design. Assessments of preinjury factors (psychiatric family functioning, and family life events), injury factors (severity of injury), and postinjury factors (coping and development of a psychiatric disorder, never before present, i.e., &quot;novel&quot;) were conducted using standard clinical scales. The outcome measure was family function as assessed with standardized family functioning interviews (at 12 and 24 months after TBI) and primary caretaker self-report questionnaires (at 3 and 6 months after TBI). RESULTS: Fifty subjects enrolled, and the analyses focused on 37, 41, 43, and 42 subjects assessed at the 3-, 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow-up evaluations, respectively. The strongest influences on family functioning after childhood TBI are preinjury family functioning, the development of a &quot;novel&quot; psychiatric disorder in the child, and preinjury family life events or stressors. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that there are families, identifiable through clinical assessment, at increased risk for family dysfunction after a child's TBI. Early identification and treatment of the child's psychopathology and family dysfunction may attenuate the associated morbidity.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0890-8567",
doi="10.1097/00004583-199801000-00021",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199801000-00021"
}