The impact of personal protective factors on quality of life after traumatic brain injury

Primary objective: Examine the impact of four personal protective factors (self-awareness (SA), self-efficacy (SE), cognitive and emotional factors) on positive adaptation, or resiliency, in persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). We hypothesized that people with better SA and cognitive skills, less depression and positive SE will report better quality of life (QOL). Research design: Correlational longitudinal design was used to explore relationships between outcome variables at initial evaluation and 6-months following initial evaluation Methods and procedures: 38 community-dwelling adults at least 1 year after sustaining a moderate-to-severe TBI were administered the Self-Efficacy Scale, Awareness Questionnaire, Chicago Multiscale Depression Inventory, Symbol Digit Modalities Test, and SF-12. Main outcome and results: Higher rated SE and emotional functioning correlated with better QOL indicating SE and emotional functioning may be personal factors facilitating positive adaptation in persons with TBI. Interestingly, poorer cognitive functioning (i.e. processing speed) and lower SA correlated with better QOL. Additionally, cognitive and emotional functioning were significant predictors of QOL. Conclusion: Strengthening emotional functioning and SE may improve outcomes after TBI. However, it may be that self-reported QoL is a poor outcome for people with TBI and measurement in future studies and practice should focus on actual engagement of activities.