Emotional distress is more closely associated with pessimism about recovery duration than with symptom severity or mental health history

May 5

By Aaron Banse. This article was initially published in our Concussion Update newsletter; please consider subscribing.

A recent study from the Journal of Pediatric Psychology looked at the mental health of adolescents with persistent post-concussive symptoms (PPCS). Vickie Plourde, PhD, et al. recruited subjects from a concussion clinic. Patients were 7.7 months post-injury and 15.8 years old on average. The study examined several measures of symptoms and mental health, including:

Illness Perception Questionnaire – to evaluate the patient’s outlook on their recovery
Health and Behavior Inventory – to assess their current symptoms
The emotional distress measure of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
The emotional functioning measure of the Pediatric Quality of Life Questionnaire

The study found that patients’ expectations of their recovery duration had a larger impact on their mental health than their actual reported symptoms, number of concussions, or history of mental health concerns. “This study suggests that pessimistic attitudes for recovery duration may be more strongly associated with emotional distress than current post-concussive symptom severity or a history of mental health concern or diagnosis.”

Concussion Alliance suggests that adolescents with PPCS commonly experience emotional distress, so addressing their outlook on recovery would be a good way for clinicians to improve their patients’ mental health outcomes.