Impulsive Behavior in Youths with Traumatic Brain Injury   (MEMBERS ONLY)

Impulsive behavior is a common problem impacting many individuals after a traumatic brain injury. Impulsive behavior can begin to occur after an individual sustains a frontal lobe brain injury, which is common in motor vehicle accidents, whiplash injuries, falls, assaults, or significant sports trauma. Frontal lobe trauma can cause a wide range of maladaptive behaviors and mood dyscontrol, especially in those who have been injured as children. Individuals that have suffered a brain injury with frontal lobe trauma cannot control these impulses and often lack the ability to understand why their behavior is inappropriate. Trauma to the brain as a young child or adolescent inhibits emotional growth within the brain, causing permanent impairment of problem-solving, processing, judgment, and self-awareness called anosognosia. Anosognosia is a genuine lack of the lack of ability to see the "big picture” and impairs a person’s ability to understand their limitations. To that end, these individuals will often have impulsive behaviors such as shoplifting, assault, or domestic violence, causing them to be involved with the corrections system. Poor judgment and impulsive behavior can cause them to recidivate due to not being able to understand and control their behaviors. Incarceration and corrections programming will not have an effect on these individuals in terms of rehabilitation due to their brain trauma and cognitive impairments. Understanding how to identify and work with these individuals in a jail, probation, or corrections setting is a priority. 

This webinar will explore the keys of assessing high-risk behavior and impulsivity in youth: who is at risk and when, what is causing the behavior and why, provide education on the cause of maladaptive behaviors due to brain trauma, and examine case studies of impulsivity after TBI.  

A post-test, handout, and certificate of completion will be provided upon completion of this one-hour webinar.