Friends after traumatic brain injury in children.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether a dose-response relation exists between the number of reported close friends and traumatic brain injury (TBI) severity in the postacute phase in school-age children.


METHODS
A retrospective relational study.


METHODS
Primary care hospital/medical center-based study on parental perspectives of recovery following TBI in school-age children (14 with severe TBI; 10 with moderate TBI; 36 with mild TBI; and 16 trauma controls).


METHODS
Parental ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist and selected neuropsychological test findings and ratings of academic performance.


RESULTS
Seventy-five percent of trauma controls but only 38.9% of children with mild and 20% of children with moderate TBI reportedly had 4 or more friends. Only 14.3% of children with severe TBI reportedly had 4 or more friends. Glasgow Coma Scale score at admission correlated with the number of friends postacutely (by parental reports) (r = +0.307, N = 76, P = .007).


CONCLUSIONS
More severe brain injury is associated with fewer friends in the postacute phase following TBI. The relation, however, was not purely linear and the hypothesis was supported only partially. Broadening the social network of children with moderate and severe TBI should be a major goal of neuropsychological rehabilitation.
Prigatano
George P
GP
Division of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ 85013, USA. gprigat@chw.edu
Gupta
Saurabh
S
D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies