Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
Rehabil Psychol. 2011 May;56(2):85-93. doi: 10.1037/a0023354.
Social psychological theories such as attribution theory have been applied to conditions such as depression and physical disability, but not to traumatic brain injury (TBI). The goal of this paper is to show that that attribution theory and related concepts help to explain the public's misconceptions about TBI and other challenges faced by clinicians and families of persons with TBI.
Research shows that misconceptions about brain injury occur because people misattribute the actions of persons with brain injury. These misattributions reflect two features: (a) the absence of visible markers of the injury, and (b) the tendency to compare persons with TBI with their peers rather than their own preinjury performance. These two processes lead to the opposite pattern to the stigma that occurs with visible disabilities: specifically, a failure among members of the public to recognize that problematic behaviors may result from the injury. This analysis suggests several therapeutic strategies for managing public misconceptions in ways that enhance coping and recovery.
Clarifying the attribution processes that underpin misconceptions about brain injury provides a framework for enhancing rehabilitation and addressing these misconceptions effectively.
归因理论等社会心理学理论已被应用于抑郁和身体残疾等情况，但尚未应用于创伤性脑损伤 (TBI)。本文的目的是表明归因理论和相关概念有助于解释公众对 TBI 的误解以及 TBI 患者的临床医生和家属面临的其他挑战。
研究表明，对脑损伤的误解是因为人们错误地归因于脑损伤患者的行为。这些错误归因反映了两个特征：(a) 损伤没有明显的标志物，以及 (b) 倾向于将 TBI 患者与其同龄人进行比较，而不是与他们自己受伤前的表现进行比较。这两个过程导致了与可见残疾所产生的污名相反的模式：具体来说，公众成员没有认识到有问题的行为可能是由损伤引起的。这种分析为管理公众误解提供了几种治疗策略，以增强应对和康复能力。
阐明导致对脑损伤误解的归因过程，为增强康复和有效解决这些误解提供了框架。
