Motor, visual-spatial, and somatosensory skills after closed head injury in children and adolescents: A study of change.

Correlational studies of recovery of function following traumatic brain injury have revealed weak, nonspecific relationships between outcome and injury variables. In order to better identify factors affecting recovery, 49 children (aged 6–15 yrs) were followed prospectively with repeated neuropsychological assessment of motor, visual–spatial, and somatosensory skills up to 5 yrs postinjury. Variability among growth patterns related robustly to injury variables. Younger children with severe injuries showed slower growth on visual–spatial and motor tasks than did older children of similar severity or similarly-aged children with less severe injuries. These findings support a hypothesis of increased vulnerability of rapidly emerging skills in young children and argue against an explanation of lowered recovery rates due to concomitant maturational influences on development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)