Social support relating to posttraumatic growth after moderate-severe traumatic brain injury: A mixed methods study

Research Objectives: To explore the relationship between social support and posttraumatic growth (PTG) and recovery using the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) and it subscales, the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List-12 (ISEL-12), and themes of social support from qualitative analysis among individuals with moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Design: Cross-sectional, mixed-methods survey.

Setting: Follow-up with former inpatients from a rehabilitation facility.

Participants: 39 individuals living with moderate-severe TBI.

Interventions: N/A

Main Outcome Measures: Quantitative measures: PTGI, Perception of Recovery, ISEL-12, PART-I, PHQ-2, Brief COPE.
Qualitative measure: A semi-structured interview question: "What are the most important changes in your life since your injury?”

Results: The PTG subscale Relating to Others strongly associated with multiple measures of self-reported recovery: perception of recovery (r=.48), PHQ-2 (r=-.38), participation importance (r=.64), problem focused coping (r=.48), and emotion focused coping (r=.58).
ISEL-12 subscales of Appraisal and Belonging were associated with PTGI total scores (r=.56; r=.39) and Relating to Others (r=.56; r=.39). ISEL-12 Tangible subscale did not relate to PTGI total scores (r=.13) or the Relating to Others subscale (r=.22).
Preliminary qualitative analysis showed that the theme of “Social Connections” emerged in several excerpts, and that positive connections after injury had an important impact on life after a TBI.

Conclusions: Social support was associated with greater growth and self-reported recovery after injury as indicated by several findings in quantitative and qualitative data. In particular, the perception of the availability of social connection and the quality of those relationships were more influential for growth and recovery rather than material social aid. As posttraumatic growth is associated with greater well-being outcomes following a traumatic event, it is important to identify factors that promote growth and recovery after TBI. Future research should explore how rehabilitation programs and resources can foster social relations and encourage community support.

Author(s) Disclosures: The authors report no disclosures for this study.