Coping and psychosocial function after brain injury

A total of 74 brain-injured patients and 46 non-neurological matched controls consecutively admitted to a specialist medical rehabilitation unit were administered the 'Ways of Coping' checklist and the 'Headley Court psychosocial rating scale'. The relatives of all participants were sent the psychosocial rating scale. An analysis of the 'Ways of Coping' checklist showed the brain-injured patients used four strategies for coping, namely problem-focused, emotion-focused, avoidance, and wishful thinking. Correlations between these four factors and the responses on the 'Headley Court psychosocial rating scale' showed that less use of emotion-focused, avoidance, and wishful thinking coping strategies predicts better psychosocial functioning in the brain-injured group, a result similar to those reported for a wide variety of other health problems. The implications for treatment and management are discussed.