Abstract
BackgroundMany significant others of persons with serious conditions like spinal cord injury (SCI) and acquired brain injury (ABI) report high levels of psychological distress. In line with the stress-coping model, the aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between personal resource resilience and psychological distress, and whether appraisals of threat and loss, and passive coping mediate this relationship.MethodsSignificant others (n = 228) of persons with SCI or ABI completed questionnaires shortly after admission to first inpatient rehabilitation after onset of the condition. The questionnaire included measures to assess psychological distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10), appraisals (Appraisals of Life Events scale, threat and loss) and passive coping (Utrecht Coping List). The PROCESS tool was used to test the presence of mediation. Confounding and differences between SCI and ABI were investigated.ResultsHigh levels of psychological distress among significant others were found (34–41%). Fifty-five percent of the variance in psychological distress was explained by the relationship between resilience and psychological distress. This relationship was mediated by appraisals of threat and loss, and passive coping. The relationship between resilience and psychological distress was similar in the SCI and ABI groups.ConclusionsThe results of our study indicate that appraisals of threat and loss and passive coping are mediating factors in the relationship between resilience and psychological distress. It seems useful to investigate if interventions focussing on psychological factors like resilience, appraisal and coping are effective to prevent or reduce psychological distress among significant others of persons with SCI or ABI.Trial registrationDutch trial register NTR5742. Registered January 9, 2016.
Highlights
Many significant others of persons with serious conditions like spinal cord injury (SCI) and acquired brain injury (ABI) report high levels of psychological distress
Present study Based on the stress-coping model, the objective of this study is to test if psychological distress – as indicator of emotional well-being outcomes – among significant others can be explained by the personal resource resilience, and if this relation is serially mediated by appraisals and coping
The purpose of this study was to test if psychological distress among significant others of persons with SCI or ABI in the subacute phase during first inpatient rehabilitation can be explained by the personal resource resilience, and if this relation is serially mediated by appraisals and coping
Summary
Many significant others of persons with serious conditions like spinal cord injury (SCI) and acquired brain injury (ABI) report high levels of psychological distress. Spinal cord injury (SCI) and acquired brain injury (ABI) are two major causes of chronic disability worldwide [1]. Both conditions often have long-term effects that impact the lives of the persons themselves, and that of the persons close to them, their significant others [2,3,4]. The new situation may have some positive aspects for significant others (e.g. self-esteem derived from caregiving) [5], they often report high levels of psychological distress in terms of anxiety and depression, and these levels of psychological distress remain high on the long term [6, 7]. The stress-coping model, originally proposed by Lazarus and Folkman, is a widely recognized theoretical model often used to explain psychological distress and has been primarily used to explain emotional well-being among persons with SCI [10, 11]
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