Psychosocial sequelae of closed head injury: Effects on the marital relationship

Abstract

Head injury frequently produces physical and psychological sequelae involving cognitive, behavioural, and personality disturbances which are chronic and perhaps even permanent. Clinically, it is apparent that the marital relationships of head injury patients face initial disruption as well as ongoing challenges in dealing with the physical, neuropsychological, and emotional changes post-injury. However, there is little empirical data to substantiate these observations. In this study, the marital relationships of 55 male head injury patients were assessed, based on the spouse's self-report obtained through interview and questionnaires. The sample was divided into three groups according to the severity of the injury: mild (N = 10), moderate (N = 25) and severe (N = 20). Based on a one-way multivariate analysis of variance, dyadic consensus, affectional expression, and overall dyadic adjustment were significantly lower for wives in the severe group than the moderate group. Affectional expression was also lower in the severe group than the mild group. Stepwise multiple regression analysis determined that 47% of the variance of overall dyadic adjustment could be accounted for by three variables (multiple R = 0.69, p less than 0.001). Dyadic adjustment was greater when wives reported a lower level of financial strain, perceived their spouse to have a relatively low level of general psychopathology or maladjustment, and when the injury was relatively mild based on GCS scores. The implications for intervention in rehabilitation at the marital level are highlighted.

Psychological and marital adjustment in couples following a traumatic brain injury (TBI): A critical review

“…They thus fail to distinguish between strains on the marital, as opposed to the parental relationship [70]. As a result, literature that specifically examines spouses' psychological adjustment following TBI is scant [38].…”

“…Moore and his colleagues are among the few researchers who have conducted works in the area of post-TBI marital relationships [12,70,75,76].…”

How Do Iranian People with Spinal Cord Injury Understand Marriage?

“…15 In contrast, Peters et al reported that people with spinal cord and head injury experienced adjustment difficulties through their marital relationships. 16 In Iran, there is little information about the life transition by marriage in post SCI life. The prevalence and the point prevalence of traumatic SCI in Tehran, the capital of Iran, was reported from 1.2 to 11.4 and 4.4 (95% CI, 1.2-11.4) per 10,000 people, respectively.…”

Effet de la détresse psychologique du proche aidant sur le fonctionnement exécutif de la personne ayant subi un traumatisme crânio-cérébral /

“…La détresse psychologique de l'aidant est également reliée à d'autres types de changements tels que ceux se produisant dans les modes relationnels (Fengler & Goodrich, 1979;Kreutzer et al, 1994a;Lefebvre et al, 2004;Peters, Stambrook, Moore & Esses, 1990;Rosenbaum & Najenson, 1976) et dans les rôles tenus par les membres de la famille (Fengler & Goodrich, 1979;Gan, Campbell, Gemeinhardt & McFadden, 2006;Hallet, Zasler, Maurer, & Cash, 1992;Marsh et al, 1998a;Marsh et al, 2002;Rosenbaum & Najenson, 1976). Les victimes et leurs aidants éprouvent beaucoup de difficultés à maintenir des relations familiales et sociales (Lefebvre et al, 2004).…”

“…En ce qui concerne la vie de couple, les moments d'intimité et la satisfaction conjugale sont souvent réduits à leur minimum (Douglas & Spellacy, 2000;Peters et al, 1990). Les conjointes dont le mari a subi un TCC décrivent généralement ce dernier comme étant entêté, immature et dépendant (Rosenbaum & Najenson, 1976 (Chwalisz, 1996).…”