Abstract:
Violence is a significant cause of TBI, especially in urban areas. In other populations, violence-related injury has been studied with respect to blame attribution. Previous work suggests that self-blame may be associated with better coping and more favorable outcome compared to blame of other persons. Those with TBI due to violence may therefore be at risk for worse psychological outcomes. In this project we are measuring blame attribution in the acute stages of both violent and non-violent injury and again at 1-year follow-up, along with outcome assessment, to determine the effects of blame attribution on psychosocial outcome. In the first phase of the study we demonstrated that blame attribution is reliable and valid in persons with cognitive impairment due to acute TBI (Hart, Bogner, Whyte & Polansky, 2003). In the follow-up portion of the study in progress, we are evaluating psychosocial impact of injury etiology and blame attribution at 1 year post TBI.