Self-efficacy and acceptance of disability following mild traumatic brain injury: A pilot study

Recovery from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and regaining emotional equilibrium afterward can take much longer than the typical three months. Recent works attribute persisting complaints to psychological factors, primarily the negative perception of mTBI. However, research has yet to demonstrate how self-beliefs concerning capability are linked to perception and ability to accept injury. The objective of this study was to investigate how perceived general self-efficacy (GSE) and acceptance of disability (AD) relate to emotional outcome following mTBI. Thirty individuals aged 21-57, all of whom were at least three-month post diagnosis of mTBI, underwent a psychiatric clinical interview assessing depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and quality of life (QoL), and completed self-report scales to evaluate psychological factors. Scores on AD, depression, and QoL for most life domains were significantly lower and worse than among the normative population. Pearson coefficients indicated significant correlations between psychological factors and emotional outcome. Mediation analysis showed a significant role of AD in mediating the correlation between GSE and depression/general QoL, irrespective of PTSD. Low self-efficacy accentuates negative perception of the injury which, in turn, leads to poor emotional outcomes post mTBI. Therefore, AD should become the focus of therapeutic interventions.