Intellectual and emotional functioning in college students following mild traumatic brain injury in childhood and adolescence

Objective: To investigate whether college students with a history of mild t raumatic brain injury (TBI) in childhood or adolescence show residual defic its in intellectual functioning, approaches to studying, or emotional stabi lity. Design: Participants with a history of mild TBI and two control group s. Setting: Volunteers were recruited from students taking an introductory psychology course. Participants: 79 students with a history of mild TBI, 75 students with a history of general anesthesia, and 93 students with no his tory of either TBI or general anesthesia. Main Outcome Measures: Participan ts carried out tests of verbal memory, nonverbal memory, verbal fluency, an d nonverbal fluency; in addition, they completed a short form of the Approa ches to Studying Inventory and the symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Results: In comparison with the two control groups, the students with a hi story of mild TBI produced similar scores on the cognitive tests and simila r orientations to studying. However, they showed a significantly higher lev el of emotional distress on the SCL-90-R. Conclusion: College students with a history of mild TBI in childhood or adolescence are intellectually unimp aired and approach their studying in a similar manner to their uninjured cl assmates. Nevertheless, they report more severe distress in terms of their general personal and emotional functioning.