Executive function and coping at one-year post traumatic brain injury

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between executive function and coping at one-year-post traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI and matched control groups completed a coping questionnaire and a neuropsychological test series. In the TBI group, better executive performance was related to the use of problem focused coping (considered more adaptive). Conversely, lower executive performance was related to the use of emotion focused coping (considered more maladaptive). Planned hierarchical regression showed that executive function contributed significantly to the use of problem focused coping above and beyond pre-morbid intelligence and injury severity. Implications for cognitive rehabilitation are discussed.

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation (grant to D.R. Dawson) and the McDonnell Foundation (grant to D.T. Stuss). K.M. Krpan was a Masters student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto while this study was being conducted, and was funded through the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Thank you to Dr. David Streiner and Dr. Nicole Anderson for their thoughtful contributions to this paper, and to A. Catanzaro and M. Chan for their assistance throughout this project. We are very grateful to the participants and their friends and family for their time and patience.