Identifying mechanisms of posttraumatic growth and recovery following moderate-severe traumatic brain injury: A mixed...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious public health concern due to its potential lifelong consequences to physical, mental, and cognitive and social function (Haarbauer-Krupa et al., 2021). Comprehensive data highlighting the multidimensional and dynamic processes that underlie personal strengths and psychosocial growth following TBI are lacking. This study identified key mechanisms of posttraumatic growth after TBI by qualitatively mapping categories of posttraumatic growth development and quantitatively examining their relationships with growth and rehabilitation outcomes.

Individuals (N = 40) who received rehabilitation services for moderate-severe TBI completed subjective and objective assessments of global function and recovery, psychosocial health and coping strategies, and a free-response question about significant life changes following injury. Using a convergent parallel design, quantitative assessments were compared against categorical drivers of growth derived from content analysis.

Qualitative analysis revealed five mechanism domains: presence of TBI sequelae; behavioral changes and goal-direct adaptations, changes in motivation and emotion, environmental and social contexts, contextual factors, and appraisal of themselves or from others. Joint assessment of data highlighted the role of event centrality, acceptance and active coping strategies, and contextual factors in the development of posttraumatic growth.

Results demonstrate the need to incorporate sociocognitive processes absent in rehabilitation frameworks to account for the scientific development of psychosocial growth and healing in the context of TBI. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).