Preliminary investigation of misconceptions and expectations of the effects of traumatic brain injury and symptom reporting

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed, first, to introduce a new measure for examining misconceptions of the effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and, secondly, to conduct a preliminary investigation of the impact of misconceptions and expectations on level of symptom reporting. Methods: The Head Injury Knowledge Scale (HIKS) was piloted for its utility in this study using a sample (n?=?13) of individuals with brain injury. A sample of 99 uninjured participants was randomly allocated into either TBI simulation (n?=?59) or control (n?=?40) groups using a 3:2 allocation ratio. All participants initially completed the HIKS and then controls completed the Symptom Expectancy Checklist (SEC). The TBI simulation group was presented with a simulation scenario concerning severe TBI and then completed the SEC. Retrospective data on the SEC for individuals with a severe TBI (n?=?38) were used for comparison purposes. Results: The HIKS was deemed suitable for use in the present study based on pilot data and internal consistency analysis of the two sub-scales (a?>?0.60). The uninjured participants displayed a greater tendency to over-generalize than minimize the effects of TBI (p?<?0.001). The TBI simulation group reported a higher level of symptoms on the SEC than controls and those with severe TBI (p?<?0.001). However, level of symptom reporting on the SEC in the simulation group was not significantly related to misconceptions of the effects of TBI (p?>?0.05). Conclusions: Based on these preliminary findings, the HIKS may provide a useful measure of the relative tendency to over-generalize or minimize the effects of TBI. However, further research is needed to investigate the reliability and validity of the HIKS prior to clinical use.