Adolescents' understanding of the causes and consequences of traumatic brain injury.
A class of 135 students ages 14 to 15 years (67 mate and 68 female) were given 2 examples of head injury (HI) and asked what they thought would be the resulting outcomes. Most commonly reported were migraines/headaches, memory difficulties, dizziness and coma or brain damage. Although awareness of the causes and outcomes of HI was limited, those who had experienced HI appeared to be more aware of the causes and outcomes than did those who had not. This is contrary to the Gouvier, Prestholdt, and Warner (1988) and O'Jile et al. (1994) findings for adults and is probably due to a combination of differences in data collection methods and a heightened awareness in adolescents due to the recent introduction of compulsory helmets for cyclists in New Zealand.
Leathem
J M
JM
Department of Psychology, Massey University, Palmeston North, New Zealand. J.M.Leathem@massey.ac.nz
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