Emotional and Cognitive Sequelae to Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

This study compared the emotional functioning and cognitive abilities (i.e., verbal fluency, executive functioning, memory, and attention) of 27 patients with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) to that of 27 controls. With the exception of verbal fluency, the cognitive abilities of the MTBI group appeared to be intact. Emotional functioning was assessed using the Neuropsychology Behavior and Affect Profile (NBAP), a revised version of the Neurobehavioural Rating Scale and the Headley Court Psychosocial Rating Scale. The NBAP demonstrated good internal reliability, criterion validity, and construct validity. The MTBI group showed significantly higher levels of post injury depression than controls on the NBAP. Pre injury levels of depression in the MTBI group were also higher than the controls but both the patient reports and those of family members confirmed an increase in depression following MTBI.