Centre for Applied Psychology. University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Disabil Rehabil. 2022 Aug;44(16):4249-4256. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2021.1900410. Epub 2021 Mar 18.
Some partners experience their relationship with a person with brain injury as the continuation of a loving pre-injury relationship (), but others feel that the pre-injury relationship has been lost and replaced with something very different (). This study provided a quantitative test of claims arising from qualitative research that certain symptoms of the injury might contribute to the experience of discontinuity - specifically, lack of emotional warmth, reduced social interaction and aggression.
Fifty-three partners providing care to someone with brain injury completed questionnaires assessing continuity/discontinuity and a range of symptoms (emotional warmth, conversational ability, aggression, depression, somatic complaints, cognition, communication, aggression, and physical disability).
Discontinuity was significantly correlated with all symptom variables except physical disability but, in a multiple regression, only the measures of emotional warmth, conversation, aggression, and depression made a significant unique contribution.
Discontinuity has been linked with relationship dissatisfaction and dysfunction, greater burden and distress, and a less person-centred approach to the provision of care. Identifying which symptoms contribute to discontinuity may enable partners to be more effectively supported in terms of how they make sense of and react to those symptoms, so that a greater sense of continuity may be retained.Implications for rehabilitationIn a marriage/partnership after brain injury, some people struggle to maintain the loving relationship they shared with the person with the brain injury before the injury. This has an impact on the psychological wellbeing of the couple and on the quality of care provided.Certain symptoms of the brain injury may make it more difficult to maintain the loving pre-injury relationship.These include aggression, depression, a lack of emotional warmth within the relationship, and more general difficulties in making conversation.Caregivers dealing with these symptoms may need extra support in making sense of, and coming to terms with, these changes.
一些伴侣将他们与脑损伤患者的关系视为充满爱意的受伤前关系的延续（），但也有一些人觉得受伤前的关系已经消失，取而代之的是完全不同的关系（）。本研究通过定量测试，验证了一些源于定性研究的说法，即损伤的某些症状可能导致关系不连续——具体来说，就是缺乏情感温暖、社交互动减少和攻击性增强。
53 名照顾脑损伤患者的伴侣完成了评估连续性/不连续性以及一系列症状（情感温暖、对话能力、攻击性、抑郁、躯体抱怨、认知、沟通、攻击性和身体残疾）的问卷。
不连续性与除身体残疾以外的所有症状变量显著相关，但在多元回归中，只有情感温暖、对话、攻击性和抑郁的测量值有显著的独特贡献。
不连续性与关系不满意和功能障碍、更大的负担和痛苦以及对护理提供的较少以患者为中心的方法有关。确定哪些症状导致不连续性，可能使伴侣能够更有效地了解和应对这些症状，从而保持更强的连续性。
在脑损伤后的婚姻/伴侣关系中，有些人难以维持他们在受伤前与脑损伤患者之间的那份爱意。这会影响夫妻的心理健康和护理质量。脑损伤的某些症状可能使维持受伤前的充满爱意的关系变得更加困难。这些症状包括攻击性、抑郁、关系中缺乏情感温暖，以及更普遍的对话困难。应对这些症状的护理人员可能需要额外的支持，以理解和接受这些变化。
