Establishing ‘proof of concept’ for a social cognition group treatment program (SIFT IT) after traumatic brain injury: two case studies

ABSTRACT

Objective

Social cognitive deficits are prevalent after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Despite this, few remediation studies exist. This study aimed to demonstrate ‘proof of concept’ for a novel group treatment that comprehensively targeted the core processes of social cognition.

Design

Pre-post case study with two participants, “Greg” and “Aaron”, living with severe TBI, with three assessment time points.

Method

Participants were screened at baseline to confirm social cognitive deficits: Greg exhibited difficulties with emotion perception and detecting hints; Aaron with detecting sarcasm and hints. Both reported everyday social problems. Participants then completed the 14-week group treatment program (SIFT IT). Feasibility and outcome measures were repeated post-group and at three-month follow-up.

Results

The study procedure was implemented with 100% assessment and 89% SIFT IT session attendance, albeit with a lack of proxy-report measures. Both participants described procedures as acceptable, although suggested more group participants could be beneficial. They both demonstrated reliable improvements (RCI > 1.96) on relevant social cognitive measures. Qualitative feedback corroborated findings: Greg reported generalization of therapeutic gains, Aaron reported increased self-awareness but nominal generalization.

Conclusion

Feasibility and limited efficacy outcomes established ‘proof of concept’ of SIFT IT. Findings will inform the study protocol for a larger randomized-controlled trial.

KEYWORDS:

• Social cognition
• emotion perception
• perspective taking
• group treatment
• case study

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship and a Centre for Research Excellence (CRE) in Brain Recovery Seed Grant.

Declaration of interest

The Awareness of Social Inference Test-Short (TASIT-S) is sold commercially by the Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment (ASSBI), for which one co-author (SM) receives royalties. Otherwise, there are no conflicts of interest in the research reported in this article.