The Contribution of Social Support, Professional Support, and Financial Hardship to Family Caregiver Life Satisfaction After Traumatic Brain Injury.

Abstract

Objectives: (a) To assess whether 3 changeable environmental variables (social support, professional support, and financial hardship) contribute to explaining differences in well-being of family caregivers after traumatic brain injury (TBI), above and beyond the influence of neurobehavioral functioning. (b) To assess the unique and relative contribution of social support, professional support, and financial hardship to life satisfaction of family caregivers.

Participants: Adult family caregivers (n = 136) of individuals who received inpatient rehabilitation following a TBI.

Measures: The Social Provisions Scale; Brief Scale of Financial Hardship after Brain Injury; Satisfaction with Life Scale; and adapted scales measuring professional support and neurobehavioral functioning.

Design: Cross-sectional study using survey methodology.

Results: Social support, professional support, and financial hardship explained a significant amount of variance in life satisfaction after controlling for neurobehavioral functioning (R change = 0.34, considered a large effect size). Social support and financial hardship were significant unique predictors within the model, but professional support was not.

Conclusion: Social support and financial hardship are prominent environmental variables that may hold promise for targeted intervention development and testing designed to support family adaptation after TBI.