Premorbid emotional and behavioural adjustment in children with mild head injuries.

This study investigated the hypothesis that children sustaining a mild closed head injury have a higher prevalence of premorbid behavioural problems than children in the general community. The prevalence of emotional and behavioural problems among children with a mild closed head injury was compared with the prevalence of problems in children with a severe closed head injury, children in the general community, and children referred to a psychiatric outpatient clinic. The results showed that the children with a mild head injury did not have significantly more premorbid emotional and behavioural problems than other children in the community. The children with a mild head injury also had significantly fewer emotional and behavioural problems than children referred to a psychiatric outpatient clinic. The results suggest that the common assumption that children with a mild closed head injury have a higher prevalence of premorbid emotional and behavioural problems than other children in the general community may not be correct.