Self-concept, marital vulnerability and brain damage

The present study investigated the influence of a man's brain injury on both his and his wife's self-concept and perception of marital vulnerability. Thirty-six couples in which the husbands had brain damage and twenty-nine couples without disability filled out the Tennessee Self-concept Scale [1], and the Marital Vulnerability Scale [2]. Marital vulnerability of husbands with brain damage was found not to differ from that of the husbands in the control group. However, the marital vulnerability of the wives of the former husbands was lower than that of the other wives. Both men with brain damage and their wives exhibited a decrease in self-esteem and an increase in conflict and pathology. Brain damage appears to affect both the extent and direction of the relations between aspects of the self-concept and marital vulnerability differentially for husbands with brain damage and their wives. Practical and theoretical implications of the negative impact of brain damage upon the person with the damage, upon his wife, and upon their marital relationship are discussed.