Spirituality, Psychological Coping, and Community Integration for Persons with Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Primary Objective: to determine the relationships that exist among level of spirituality, psychological coping strategies, and community integration for persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Research Design: non-experimental, prospective study. Methods and Procedures: Participants were 26 individuals with non-acute TBI (18 males, 8 females; 25 Caucasian, 1 Hispanic; average time since injury = 41 months). Participants completed a measure of spirituality (i.e., INSPIRIT; Kass et al., 1991); a measure of psychological coping (i.e., a revised Ways of Coping Scale (WAYSS); Felton, Revenson, & Hinrichson, 1984); and a measure of community integration (i.e., Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ); Corrigan & Deming, 1995). Main Outcomes and Results: Spearman correlational analyses indicated statistically significant positive relationships between spirituality and “positive” psychological coping strategies (i.e., WAYSS Cognitive Restructuring, Information Seeking, and Emotional Expression scales), but not with “negative” psychological coping strategies (i.e., WAYSS Wish Fulfilling Fantasy, Self Blame, or Threat Minimization scales) or with the CIQ. Conclusion: Increased spirituality is associated with positive (but not negative) psychological coping strategies, but spirituality is not necessarily related to improved functional capabilities. These results underscore the need for rehabilitation professionals to consider spiritual coping as a component of recovery for TBI survivors.