Self-concepts of Persons with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) as Rehabilitation Outcomes
Background and purpose:
Research indicates that persons with brain injury have alternations of self, which are prominent in disorders of perceptions and have a biological basis through neuropsychological findings. The self-concept is suggested as an important framework for understanding problems and developing solutions for persons with brain injury during rehabilitation. The present study compared the self-concepts of 64 Hong Kong Chinese with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) with 80 healthy Hong Kong Chinese, so as to gain a better understanding the self-perceptions of persons with TBI, and to plan effective self-concept enhancement programme accordingly.
Methods:
Hong Kong Chinese with and without TBI responded to The Adult Source of Self-Esteem Inventory (ASSEI), a self-concept questionnaire which wasbased on a hierarchical multidimensional self-concept model of Hong Kong Chinese with disabilities. Face-to-face interviews were also arranged for subjects who could not respond to the questionnaire independently.
Results:
Through comparing the two groups' responses, by using univariate analysis of variance, the non-TBI subjects (n=80) were found to have statistically significantly higher means than their TBI counterpart (n=64) in total self-concept, and other specific self-concepts (p<0.01). The TBI group also showed significantly lower self-criticism than the non-TBI group. The relatively low self-concept and openness exhibited by the TBI subjects might be due to experiencing unsatisfactory rehabilitation outcomes and underprivileged social conditions. Significant correlations were found between demographic variables and self-concepts of TBI subjects.
Conclusions:
Persons with TBI generally showed significantly lower self-concepts when comparing to their healthy counterparts. The findings are valuable reference to design rehabilitation programme for their self-concept and rehabilitation outcome enhancement.