Prediction of depression and anxiety 1 year after moderate-severe traumatic brain injury

This study examined three scales of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Anxiety, Anxiety-Related Disorders, and Depression) in 88 participants 1 year after they suffered a moderate-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Participants were all enrolled in the federally funded Traumatic Brain Injury Model System project at Carolinas Rehabilitation. The following variables were assessed at the time of injury: age, sex, employment and marital status, and length of loss of consciousness. Disability status, using the Disability Rating Scale (DRS), was assessed at the time of discharge from the rehabilitation hospital. A series of three linear regression analyses found that these variables significantly predicted scores on the Anxiety and Anxiety-Related Disorders scales, which accounted for 14% and 17.7% of the variance, respectively. The variables did not significantly predict scores on the Depression scale. Within each regression analysis, DRS was consistently and negatively related to each PAI scale, such that greater disability was associated with better psychological functioning. Such seemingly paradoxical findings are discussed in terms of anosognosia or poor awareness of psychological functioning among those with greater disability 1 year after TBI.