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Coping Strategies as a Predictor of Post-concussive Symptoms in Children with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury versus Mild Orthopedic Injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2011

Stacey E. Woodrome
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychology, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia
Keith Owen Yeates*
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Center for Biobehavioral Health, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
H. Gerry Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio
Jerome Rusin
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
Barbara Bangert
Affiliation:
Departments of Radiology and Neurosurgery, University Hospitals Health System, Cleveland, Ohio
Ann Dietrich
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Department of Emergency Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
Kathryn Nuss
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio Department of Emergency Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
Martha Wright
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Keith Owen Yeates, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Nationwide Children's Hospital, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH 43205. E-mail: keith.yeates@nationwidechildrens.org

Abstract

This study examined whether children's coping strategies are related to post-concussive symptoms following mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) versus orthopedic injury (OI). Participants were 8- to 15-year-old children with mild TBI (n = 167) or OI (n = 84). They rated their current preferred coping strategies and post-injury symptoms at 2 weeks (baseline) and 1, 3, and 12 months post-injury. Children's reported use of coping strategies did not vary significantly over time, so their baseline coping ratings were examined as predictors of post-concussive symptoms across time. Self-ratings of symptoms were positively related to emotion-focused strategies and negatively related to problem-focused engagement after both mild TBI and OI. Higher problem-focused disengagement predicted larger group differences in children's ratings of symptoms, suggesting that problem-focused disengagement moderates the effects of mild TBI. Coping strategies collectively accounted for approximately 10–15% of the variance in children's post-concussive symptoms over time. The findings suggest that coping may play an important role in accounting for children's perceptions of post-concussive symptoms after mild TBI. (JINS, 2011, 17, 317–326)

Type
Research Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2011

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