Interview study of the effects of paediatric traumatic brain injury on memory.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on children's day-to-day memory functioning.


METHODS
A qualitative, interview-based procedure.


METHODS
Thirteen parents of children and adolescents with TBI were interviewed for 2 hours. Data from 12 of the interviews were analysed using content analysis, which involved transcribing notes, sorting information into categories, identifying similarities or differences among the categories and isolating meaningful trends.


RESULTS
Over half of the children experienced explicit (past recall) and prospective memory (future intentions) loss, but few experienced implicit memory (e.g. procedural) loss. Further, parents utilized their own interventions in minimizing their children's memory disabilities.


CONCLUSIONS
Memory loss is common and can impact on everyday living, but is selective in the types of memory affected. Follow-ups are recommended to assess quantitatively, the so-far, little-known effects of paediatric TBI on prospective memory and to examine more closely parent interventions to assess their wider applicability in TBI rehabilitation.
Ward
Heather
H
School of Applied Psychology and Neuropsychology Clinic, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. h.ward@griffith.edu.au
Shum
David
D
Dick
Bob
B
McKinlay
Lynne
L
Baker-Tweney
Simone
S
D000293:Adolescent; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011939:Mental Recall; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting; D010290:Parents