Living with cognitive-communicative difficulties following traumatic brain injury: Using a model of interpersonal communication to characterize the subjective experience

Abstract

This study was undertaken to better understand the subjective experience of long-term cognitive-communicative impairments following severe cerebral insult. An additional aim was to explore the utility of a model of interpersonal communication in elucidating how such difficulties affect communicative interactions. Participants in the study were five dyads in which one member had sustained a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Data collection and analysis utilized both qualitative and quantitative methodology. It was found that individuals with long-term TBI continue to experience significant communication difficulties, which in combination with problems of memory, fatigue and irritability commonly generate unsatisfactory interpersonal communication experiences. The model of interpersonal communication provided a useful framework for considering why these interactions are ineffective or unsatisfactory. It is felt that the methodology outlined in this paper may offer a useful means of investigating the relationship between neurogenic communication impairments/disabilities and interpersonal communication difficulties experienced by individuals from a variety of clinical populations.

Social communication mediates the relationship between emotion perception and externalizing behaviors in young adult survivors of pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI)

“…Though childhood TBI may disrupt a range of developing social functions that share overlapping neural networks, difficulties with basic elements of social communication may be among the most debilitating long‐term consequences of TBI (Andrews et al, 1998; Turkstra et al, 2001). Impaired pragmatic communication skills, including difficulty with conversational turn taking, maintaining conversational distance and adjusting language to meet changing social constraints are consistently reported, and may contribute to poor social adjustment (Cattelani et al, 1998; Knox and Douglas, 2009; O'Flaherty and Douglas, 1997).…”

Exploring the factor structure of the La Trobe Communication Questionnaire: Insights into the nature of communication deficits following traumatic brain injury

“…The behaviours described by this factor again reflect damage to frontal lobe systems, but here dorsolateral and ventromedial areas are implicated (Stuss et al, 1998). Several researchers have documented these behaviours empirically in speakers with TBI using various analysis methods (e.g., Coelho et al, 2002;Hartley & Jensen, 1991;O'Flaherty & Douglas, 1997;Snow et al, 1997Snow et al, , 1998. In addition, close other perceptions on Factor 2 were significantly related to severity of injury.…”

“…The interplay between cognition and communication following TBI has long been acknowledged and discussed (e.g., Coelho et al, 1995;Douglas, 2004;Hartley, 1995; FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE LCQ McDonald, 1993b;O'Flaherty & Douglas, 1997;Snow, Douglas, & Ponsford, 1995;Ylvisaker, Szekeres & Feeney, 2001). The LCQ was developed as a time-efficient tool to investigate perceived cognitive-communicative ability following TBI.…”

Describing conversations between individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and communication partners following communication partner training: Using exchange structure analysis

“…Disruptions at the discourse level (which involve long units of language that convey a message) have been linked with negative social integration outcomes [10,11]. This loss of social communicative competence poses a major obstacle for reintegration into the community [12], as people with TBI face difficulties establishing and maintaining social relationships, leading to reduced life satisfaction, impoverished quality-of-life [12][13][14] and an inability to return to work [10,15,16].…”