Managing Emotions and Quality of Life in Brain Injury Survivors and Caregivers

Abstract

<h3>Research Objectives</h3> To determine the role time since injury (TSI) plays in emotion management and quality of life in brain injury survivors and caregivers. <h3>Design</h3> Retrospective analysis. <h3>Setting</h3> Post-acute Rehabilitation Hospital. <h3>Participants</h3> Fifty participants were included in the analyses. Participants were brain injury survivors and caregivers. <h3>Interventions</h3> N/A. <h3>Main Outcome Measures</h3> Primary outcome measures include the PROMIS ® Managing Emotions (SF-8) and Quality of Life after Brain Injury (QOLIBRI). <h3>Results</h3> Time since Injury significantly moderated the relationships between managing emotions and quality of life post injury for both brain injury survivors and caregivers. Combining survivors and caregivers in the same model results in a final model explaining 76% of the variance in QOL (F=15.271, p < .000). <h3>Conclusions</h3> Results of this model suggest that managing emotions can improve quality of life in both brain injury survivors and caregivers, perhaps supporting the importance of emotion regulation training, especially earlier in recovery. These results suggest that increasing emotional regulation training in brain injury survivors may positively affect their perceived quality of life, therefore, could possibly decrease other negative mental health difficulties such as depression. Based on these results, future research could look more into more effective ways to deliver clinical training to brain injury survivors working on managing their emotions. <h3>Author(s) Disclosures</h3> No conflicts exist.