A transdiagnostic investigation of emotional distress after traumatic brain injury |
| |
Authors: | Cassandra Shields Tamara Ownsworth Analise O'Donovan Jennifer Fleming |
| |
Affiliation: | 1. School of Applied Psychology and Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, Australia;2. School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia;3. Occupational Therapy Department, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Australia |
| |
Abstract: | Emotional distress after traumatic brain injury (TBI) often presents as a range of neurobehavioural and emotional reactions rather than distinct disorders. This study adopted a transdiagnostic approach with the aim of identifying psychological processes common to depression, anxiety and global distress after TBI. Fifty participants with TBI (aged 19–66 years, 12–65 months post-injury) completed measures of threat appraisals and avoidance behaviour (Appraisal of Threat and Avoidance Questionnaire), self-discrepancy (Head Injury Semantic Differential Scale III), emotion dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale), worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire), negative self-focused attention (Self-Focus Sentence Completion) and emotional distress (Depression Anxiety Stress Scales and Brief Symptom Inventory). Significant correlations were found among the proposed transdiagnostic variables (rs?=?.29–.82, p?.05). A principal components analysis revealed two underlying factors: (1) Threats to Self, and (2) Emotion Dysregulation. Only the Emotion Dysregulation factor accounted for significant unique variance in levels of depression, anxiety and global distress (sr2?=?.12–.17). Such findings indicate the need for interventions to target difficulties in identifying and regulating emotions after TBI to facilitate emotional adjustment. |
| |
Keywords: | Traumatic brain injury Emotional distress Transdiagnostic perspective Emotional dysregulation |
|
|