Social Support Appears to Decrease Caregiver Stress

Past Studies

Past Studies show that caregivers and family members play an important role in the rehabilitation process of individuals with traumatic brain injury. It is common for caregivers and family members to report feeling overwhelmed and stressed taking care of a family member with a traumatic brain injury in their home. Significant levels of distress, including anxiety, depression, and poor social adjustment, have been observed in more than 30% to 50% of adults caring for individuals with traumatic brain injury one year after injury. Similarly, families have shown significant dysfunction compared with families without an individual with a traumatic brain injury and families of medical patients. It is important to understand the characteristics of individuals with traumatic brain injury and their caregivers that influence caregiver distress in order to develop interventions to facilitate both the rehabilitation process and family functioning.

This Study

This study focused on 60 pairs of individuals with traumatic brain injury and their caregivers. The researcher sought to identify predictors of healthy family functioning. The researchers obtained background data about the individuals with traumatic brain injury by reviewing their medical records. The individuals with traumatic brain injury and their caregivers were interviewed using standardized evaluation measures. The researchers statistically analyzed the data to identify predictors of healthy family functioning. The researchers found that neurobehavioral problems (e.g., inappropriate behaviors, indifference, social graces, depression, and mania) experienced by the individual with the traumatic brain injury greatly affected the caregiver’s distress and family functioning. The social support felt by the caregivers powerfully influenced caregiver well being, directly affecting outcome and decreasing the influence of certain characteristics of the individual with injury. Caregivers without adequate social support were increasingly distressed as time went on, whereas caregivers with adequate social support were not. The amount of family dysfunction was associated with the amount of perceived social support. Caregivers perceiving the lowest social support reported the highest levels of distress and family dysfunction. In contrast, characteristics such as severity of injury and alcohol use by the individual with traumatic brain injury were not associated with caregiver distress or family functioning.

Who May Be Affected By These Findings

Individuals with traumatic brain injury, caregivers and family members, rehabilitation personnel, researchers

Caveats

In this study, caregivers reporting the least social support were also caring for individuals with the worst neuropsychological functioning and the worst functional abilities. Thus, it is not surprising that these caregivers reported the most distress. The researchers state that rehabilitation professionals should stress the importance of social support to individuals with brain injury and their caregivers.

Bottom Line

Social support was a powerful predictor of caregiver and family functioning following traumatic brain injury.

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