title: Demographic and injury-related moderators of memory and achievement outcome in pediatric TBI.
abstract: Critical factors affecting traumatic brain injury (TBI) outcome in children and adolescents are explored with an emphasis on an examination of age at injury as a predictor of memory functioning. Age at injury and other injury-related and demographic predictors (i.e., severity, time postinjury, gender, and socioeconomic status [SES]) of memory and achievement outcome were examined in 65 children and adolescents post-TBI compared to 65 age-matched noninjured controls. Although robust findings have been found for age at injury as a general predictor of outcome, age was not found to be a significant predictor of memory functioning following pediatric TBI. Structural equation modeling suggests that the most parsimonious model of post-TBI outcome contains two causally related latent variables: one defined by gender, SES, injury severity, and age at injury, and one defined by general cognitive functioning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA. rlajines@emich.edu
authors.forename: Renée
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lajiness-O'Neill
authors.forename: Laszlo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Erdodi
authors.forename: Erin D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Bigler
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D003710:Demography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors