Traumatic Brain Injury as a Cause of Behavior Disorders.

There is increasing evidence that many children and adolescents who display behavior disorders have sustained a traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injury can take the following forms: closed head trauma in which the brain usually suffers diffuse damage; open head injury which usually results in specific focal damage; or internal trauma (e.g., tumors or lack of oxygen) with results either focal or diffuse. The brain is usually divided into individual sections (brain stem, cerebellum, and cerebrum, which in turn is divided into the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes). Frontal lobe damage may result in disinhibition, lack of executive planning skills, and emotional lability, while perceptual deficits may result from damage to the temporal or occipital lobes. Temporal lobe seizures may be associated with impulsivity and violent outbursts. Psychiatric impairment may be a direct result of the injury or due to the injury's after-effects. In the behavior disordered classroom, teaching methods such as behavior modification, humanistic techniques, or contracting, which are effective with non-brain injured behavior disordered students may not be as effective with the brain injured child. In some cases, it may be more effective to regulate the child's environment to minimize the occurrence of behavior disorders. Contains 12 references. (DB)