The purpose of this study was to examine the coping styles,
beliefs, and symptoms of head-injured adults during long term
recovery. Twenty-eight head-injured and thirty-two control subjects
suffering from non-neurological illnesses or injuries participated.
Subjects completed the Ways of Coping Questionnaire and two
questionnaires developed for this study: the "Why Me?" Questionnaire
assessed subjects' causal attributions and beliefs about responsibility
and the Head-Injury Symptom List provided self-report of the severity
of symptoms of head-injury.
The coping and belief profiles of the two groups were compared.
Head-injured subjects were more likely to place responsibility for
their injury on others and to undertake personal efforts to effect
their recovery. Various relations between injury attributions and
coping styles were obtained. Among both head-injured and control
subjects those who endorsed beliefs of retribution were more likely to
cope by wishing they could change their situation.
Responses to the Head-Injury Symptom List identified tiredness as
the most pervasive symptom. Greater symptomatology was related both to
a coping style characterized by lack of ability or willingness to
engage in social activity or to seek social support and to beliefs that
the injury had occurred to serve a meaningful purpose.
Consistent with these quantitative results, interviews with
head-injured subjects revealed themes of both loss and enhancement. A
majority compared their recovery favorably with that of other
individuals.
In support of cognitive coping theory, this research demonstrates
the feasibility of studying the coping capacities of head-injured
individuals and shows that they have distinctive coping styles and
beliefs which are related to each other. This knowledge should aid
those trying to support the recovery of head-injured individuals by
adding to the framework upon which interventions are based.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/46636 |
| Date | January 1991 |
| Creators | Solet, Jo M. |
| Publisher | Boston University |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | This work is being made available in OpenBU by permission of its author, and is available for research purposes only. All rights are reserved to the author. |
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