The impact of self-awareness and depression on subjective reports of memory, quality-of-life and satisfaction with life following TBI

Objective: To determine the relationship between self-awareness and depressive symptomatology with self-reports of memory, Quality-of-Life (QoL) and satisfaction with life in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: Cross-sectional survey of 30 community dwelling adults, who sustained a TBI at least 1 year prior to study enrolment. Participants completed questionnaires to assess the constructs of depression, self-awareness, QoL, satisfaction with life and memory. Results: Symptoms of depression were significantly associated with self-reports of poor memory abilities, lower QoL and lower satisfaction with life. Additionally, higher levels of self-awareness were associated with lower ratings of QoL and reduced memory abilities and better strategy use regarding memory. However, when examining the contribution of each construct individually, depressive symptomatology, and not self-awareness, was significantly associated with subjective self-reports of memory, QoL and satisfaction with life. Conclusions: This pattern of relationships illustrates that, when a person has a low level of depressive symptoms, his/her reports of QoL, memory and satisfaction with life will be more positive; however, he/she will demonstrate more difficulty with self-awareness. Thus, psychological aspects of recovery must, therefore, be taken into account when using self-reported measures in the evaluation of persons who have sustained TBI.