News
Childhood TBI May Be Connected To Antisocial Behavior
A new study finds that people who experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a child are more likely to participate in offensive or antisocial behavior as adults. There is also a link between the severity of the injury and the risk of their behavior.
University of Canterbury researcher Dr. Randolph Grace has been investigating the negative effects of childhood TBI, and this study recruited participants who had experienced some form of TBI before the age of 18, and have had at least 5 years since their injury.
After examining the participants’ lifetime record of offending behavior, and assessing them on emotional behavior, Grace says, “We found TBI was significantly associated with an increased risk of offending behavior. Our analysis revealed that for people with moderate to severe TBI the strongest predictors of offending behavior was the TBI status.”
By exploring the negative affects of childhood TBI, there is hope that in the future professionals will be able to intervene so that victims of childhood TBI do not begin to participate in antisocial behavior.
Currently, there is very little information about the long lasting effects of early traumatic brain injury, and even less support available for the emotional and mental issues that can arise. With every bit of new research that comes out, it is apparent we need to rethink how we handle childhood TBI.
The media release from the University of Canterbury was published online here.
