Am J Psychiatry 1981; 138:1533-1544
Copyright © 1981 by American Psychiatric Association
Psychological sequelae of brain damage in children
M Rutter
The author reviews the empirical evidence on the psychological sequelae of
brain damage in childhood, concluding that brain injury causes a markedly
increased risk in both intellectual impairment and psychiatric disorder.
The risk is related to the severity of the brain damage, but there is
little indication of locus effects. Psychiatric disorder is probably most
likely to occur when there is abnormal neurophysiological activity; to some
extent it may be influenced by the nature of the basic medical condition.
Psychiatric consequences of brain injury are also substantially affected by
the child's pre-injury behavior, psychosocial circumstances, and cognitive
level. However, there are few psychological sequelae that are specific to
brain damage.
