The Association of Adverse Childhood Experiences with Long-term Mood and Anxiety Disorders After Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury: A Population-based Case-Control Study

Objective: To assess the association between ACEs and the development of psychiatric disorders by age 25 among individuals who sustained TBI prior to age 10.Design: Population-based case-control study.Setting: Olmsted County, Minnesota.Participants: 566 individuals (N=566) who sustained a TBI prior to age 10 were identified and classified using a validated TBI classification system. Among these individuals, cases with a subsequent mood or anxiety disorder prior to age 25 were identified through clinical diagnostic codes and manual record review. For each case, a 1:1 matched control was randomly selected from individuals with a pediatric TBI who did not have a mood/anxiety disorder prior to the matched case's mood/anxiety disorder. Interventions: Not applicableMain Outcome Measures: Development of a mood/anxiety disorder.Results: Among the 114 matched pairs of individuals with a TBI prior to age 10, a subsequent mood/anxiety diagnosis was significantly associated with a history of 10 of 14 ACE categories and with having an ACE score >= 1 (odds ratio 5.17; 95% confidence interval 2.78-9.59).Conclusions: This is the first population-based study to the authors' knowledge showing that among children who sustained a TBI prior to age 10, those who experienced ACEs are at increased risk of developing a mood or anxiety disorder.(c) 2023 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.

Automated summary

This population-based study aims to assess the association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the development of psychiatric disorders among individuals who sustained traumatic brain injury (TBI) before the age of 10. The findings suggest that children who experienced ACEs are at an increased risk of developing mood or anxiety disorders.