Primary objective: To investigated the long-term effect of childhood Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) on adulthood Relationship Quality (RQ), examining injury severity, age of injury, and markers of prefrontal cortex (PFC) functioning, apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction.
Research design: Longitudinal, between-subjects, cross-sectional design using retrospective and current data.
Methods and procedures: Participants (N = 169; 61 mild TBI (mTBI); 65 moderate to severe TBI (MSTBI); 43 orthopaedic injury (OI); Injury age: 1-17 years; Testing age: 18-31 years) completed a structured interview regarding their injury, demographic characteristics and RQ, the National Adults Reading Test, and Frontal Systems Behaviour Scale. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 25.
Main outcomes and results: Adults who had experienced childhood TBI had significantly poorer RQ than adults who had experienced childhood OI. Severity of TBI did not impact adulthood RQ. Earlier age of injury predicted reduced adulthood RQ in the MSTBI group. Greater PFC dysfunction predicted poorer RQ in adults with a history of childhood TBI. While elevated levels of apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction were associated with poorer RQ, no individual marker had predictive value.
Conclusion: Experiencing a childhood TBI can have a long-term negative influence on adulthood RQ. Such RQ deficits can underpin reduced life satisfaction and increased health issues.
Keywords: Traumatic brain injury; neuroplasticity; prefrontal cortex.