Brain injury beliefs, self-awareness, and coping: A preliminary cluster analytic study based within the self-regulatory model

Abstract

The interplay between individuals’ subjective beliefs about traumatic brain injury, their coping style and their self-awareness might provide a more helpful guide to rehabilitation goals than looking at these factors in isolation. We therefore conducted a preliminary study to determine whether the Self-Regulatory Model can identify different clusters of individuals according to belief schemata, and to explore whether clusters differed across measures of coping and self-awareness. The Illness Perception Questionnaire–Revised was administered to 37 participants with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), along with the Ways of Coping Checklist–Revised and the European Brain Injury Questionnaire. Clinicians also rated clients’ level of difficulties using the latter scale, and the discrepancy between client and clinician scores was used as a measure of self-awareness. Hierarchical cluster analysis distinguished three groups based on profiles of subjective beliefs about TBI, labelled “low control/ambivalent”, “high salience”, and “high optimism”. The high salience group was characterised by beliefs about serious consequences of the injury and greater self-awareness, and reported a greater range of coping strategies. The other two groups showed lower levels of awareness but differed in coping styles, with the low control/ambivalent group showing a trend towards more avoidance coping against a background of lower perceived control.

Keywords:

• Brain injury
• Rehabilitation
• Illness perceptions
• Coping
• Self-awareness