Head injuries linked to more trouble for teens

Teenagers who have experienced a traumatic brain injury are much more likely to engage in a wide range of risky behaviors, Canadian researchers report.

Both boys and girls were more likely to smoke, use drugs, drink alcohol and get poor grades after they endured a blow to the head that knocked them out for longer than five minutes or landed them in the hospital for a day or more, the study found.

"This is a wake-up call. Concussions are brain injuries, and we need parents and physicians to become more vigilant," said lead author Gabriela Ilie, a postdoctoral fellow at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. "Our brains define who we are, and a lot of our behaviors and thoughts and emotions depend on our brain circuitry operating properly."

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However, the study only showed an association between traumatic brain injury and risky behaviors, not a cause-and-effect relationship, noted Dr. Anthony Alessi, a neurologist and concussion expert in Norwich, Conn.

Alessi said he is concerned that studies like these provide an easy excuse for bad personal choices.

"There are plenty of people who get hit in the head who have done very well for themselves," Alessi said. "I would hate for people to think once you've had a traumatic brain injury, you automatically will have all these other problems."

For their study, the Canadian researchers used data gathered during the 2011 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey developed by the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.

The survey, one of the longest ongoing school surveys in the world, contains responses from more than 9,000 students between grades 7 and 12 in public schools across Ontario.

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Head injuries linked to more trouble for teens