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The Association Between Community Participation and Social Internet Use Among Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury
Jessica M Ketchum1, Mitch Sevigny, Tessa Hart
1Research Department, Craig Hospital, Englewood, Colorado (Drs Ketchum and Whiteneck and Mr Sevigny); Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems National Data and Statistical Center, Englewood, Colorado (Drs Ketchum and Whiteneck and Mr Sevigny); Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania (Dr Hart); Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (O'Neil-Pirozzi); Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts (O'Neil-Pirozzi); H. Ben Taub Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine and Harris Health System, Houston, Texas (Dr Sander); Brain Injury Research Center, TIRR Memorial Hermann, Houston, Texas (Dr Sander); Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas (Dr Juengst); Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (Dr Bergquist); and Departments of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, The University of Alabama at Birmingham (Dr Dreer).
Objective:
To examine the association between social Internet use and real-world societal participation in survivors of moderate-severe traumatic brain injury.
Design:
Prospective cross-sectional observational study.
Setting:
Ten Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Centers.
Participants:
A total of 331 participants in the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems, interviewed at any follow-up year between April 2014 and March 2015.
Main Measures:
Survey on Internet use, including social media and other online socialization; Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools-Objective with separate analyses of Productivity, Social Relations, Out and About subscales; covariates included demographics, injury variables, and functional and emotional status at follow-up.
Results:
Participants were classified as social Internet users (N = 232) or nonusers (N = 99). Users had significantly higher Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools-Objective Social Relations scores than nonusers. A similar finding pertained to Out and About scores, with the between-group difference significantly greater for those with greater depressive symptoms severity. Users and nonusers did not differ significantly on Productivity subscale.
Conclusions:
The positive association between social Internet use and real-world social participation suggests that people with traumatic brain injury do not use social media as an alternative to real-world socialization. Rather, it is likely that similar barriers and facilitators affect both online and real-world social participation following traumatic brain injury. Emotional function should be considered as a moderating factor in further studies.
