Neuropsychological predictors of distress following traumatic brain injury

Emotional and behavioural difficulties are one of the most common difficult ies following traumatic brain injury (TBI), although it is not clear which individuals with TBI become most distressed. Numerous factors contribute to adjustment following TBI, and the current study examined degree of cogniti ve decline as one potential contributor to distress following TBI. The rela tionship between cognitive functioning and distress may be conceptualized a s being related to (a) an individual's absolute level of cognitive ability following TBI, or (b) relative degree of decline following TBI (i.e. the gr eater the decline, the greater the distress, regardless of absolute level o f ability). The current study tested these hypotheses by comparing a measur e of global emotional distress with measures of absolute level of neuropsyc hological functioning and indices of cognitive decline. In contrast to hypo theses, regression analyses indicated that estimated pre-morbid ability acc ounted for more variance in distress following TBI than either absolute lev el of functioning or indices of cognitive decline, with individuals with hi gher estimated pre-morbid abilities reporting lower levels of distress. Tre atment implications are discussed.