Billy Lam, Ana Mikolić, Mark Bayley, Tharshini Chandra, Paul Comper, Evan Foster, Tavina Sathish, Noah D Silverberg
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: Fear avoidance behavior is associated with more severe postconcussion symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). However, it remains unclear when after injury fear avoidance behavior becomes a barrier to recovery. This study investigated changes in early fear avoidance behavior after mTBI and its associations with postconcussion symptoms.
Method: Adults with concussion (N = 308) were prospectively recruited from an outpatient concussion clinic in Ontario, Canada. They completed measures assessing fear avoidance behavior (Fear Avoidance Behavior after Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire) and postconcussion symptoms (Sport Concussion Assessment Tool-5) at Weeks 2 and 8 postinjury (N = 216).
Results: Based on normative reference values, the two most common postconcussion trajectories of fear avoidance behavior were those with persistently low and those with initially elevated but decreasing fear avoidance behavior. Using linear regression, we found an interaction effect between fear avoidance behavior at Weeks 2 and 8, indicating that participants with persistently elevated fear avoidance behavior (at Weeks 2 and 8) had more severe postconcussion symptoms at Week 8, whereas participants with initially elevated but decreasing fear avoidance behavior tended to recover well.
Conclusion: Early fear avoidance behavior often decreases, but when it does not, it is associated with worse recovery from mTBI. These findings may inform the timing and design of interventions targeting fear avoidance behavior in patients with mTBI. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
期刊介绍:
Rehabilitation Psychology is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles in furtherance of the mission of Division 22 (Rehabilitation Psychology) of the American Psychological Association and to advance the science and practice of rehabilitation psychology. Rehabilitation psychologists consider the entire network of biological, psychological, social, environmental, and political factors that affect the functioning of persons with disabilities or chronic illness. Given the breadth of rehabilitation psychology, the journal"s scope is broadly defined.