Abstract
Objectives: To examine the predictive value of caregiver/family status to well-being of persons with brain injury and toexamine whether perceived social support to caregivers moderates their well-being.
Participants: One hundred nine pairs ofadults, a caregiver, and an individual with TBI.
Main Measures: Brief Symptom Inventory-18, Satisfaction With LifeScale; Disability Rating Scale; Social Provision Scale, Family Assessment Device, and Disability Rating Scale.
Results: Canonical correlation indicated the presence of a relationship between well-being in TBI and caregiver participants. Two canonicalvariates accounted for 47.5% variance. Poor psychological well-being among persons with TBI was associated with poor caregiverperceived social support and poor familial behavioral control. Individuals with high disability also had caregivers with poorerpsychological well-being. In post hoc multiple regressions, caregiver/family psychosocial characteristics added unique prediction ofoutcome for individuals with TBI. Hierarchical multiple regressions provided evidence that social support of caregivers moderatesoutcome status for individuals with TBI.
Conclusions: Future research efforts should focus on understanding of the specificmechanisms of reciprocal effects, to help design future therapy.