The relationship between unintentional injury in childhood and risk of mental health problems in adolescence: An analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study unintentional injury in childhood and mental health in adolescence

PURPOSE: Childhood injuries have been associated with mental health problems such as acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, possibly due to exposure to childhood adversity, but few studies have investigated a longer-term psychological impact of childhood injury. This study aims to investigate the link between unintentional injury and adolescent mental health. METHODS: Secondary data analysis of 7,264 children in Millennium Cohort Study. Mental health was measured in the sixth sweep of the study when the children were 14 years old; unintentional childhood injuries were measured in each of the first five sweeps at age 9 months, 3, 5, 7, and 11 years old. RESULTS: After controlling for relevant variables, an association between experience of multiple injuries in childhood and poor mental health in adolescence remained (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.05-1.64). However, stratified by sex, only girls who experienced multiple injuries had an increased risk of poor mental health in adolescence (OR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.17-2.24). CONCLUSION: Unintentional injury experienced in childhood is associated with poor mental health in adolescent females only. We discuss the potential mechanisms for this finding, including the possible different association between injury and wider adversity by sex, and measurement artefacts. More research is needed to investigate the mechanisms and the relationship between multiple injuries and the wider experience of adversity in childhood.