Injury attributions, shame and self-criticism in ABI/TBI survivors

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Injury attributions, shame and self-criticism in Acquired Brain Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury survivors

• IRAS ID

  169556

• Contact name

  Paula Robinson

• Contact email

  pr362@bath.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  The University of Bath

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 3 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  This project aims to better understand the emotional experiences of acquired and traumatic brain injury survivors. An acquired brain injury (ABI) is a brain injury that occurs after birth, such as haemorrhage, stroke or tumour. A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a brain injury that occurs as a result of an external force, such as a motor vehicle accident or a sports injury.
  
  In order to be eligible, potential participants would need to have adequate hearing and spoken language abilities to be able to answer questions in an interview. In the interview, the researcher will help participants to complete five short questionnaires. The questionnaires will cover; 1) the circumstances and beliefs about the causes of their brain injury (injury attributions); 2) shame and self-criticism; 3) anxiety; 4) depression; 5) satisfaction with life. We will also ask about age, sex and ethnicity.

  It is anticipated the interview will last 60 to 90 minutes, depending on breaks. There would be no further contact after completion of the interview unless the participant has further questions. We will continue recruitment from neuro-rehabilitation teams until 60 service-users have participated.

  It is hypothesised that individuals who believe themselves responsible for their brain injury (internal attribution) will demonstrate higher levels of shame and self-criticism and thus more severe anxiety and depression symptomology. There are also reasons to believe that responsibility and self-blame may be different across TBI and ABI groups. Therefore, comparisons will be made between the data collected from the ABI survivors with TBI survivors.

  This is a preliminary study and will provide the basis for future research into the emotional experiences of ABI and TBI survivors. In addition, the study results could be used to inform future psychological and neuro-rehabilitation interventions.

• REC name

  South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  15/SC/0349

• Date of REC Opinion

  10 Jun 2015

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion