Chronic stress, sense of belonging, and depression among survivors of traumatic brain injury.

PURPOSE: To test whether chronic stress, interpersonal relatedness, and cognitive burden could explain depression after traumatic brain injury (TBI).

DESIGN: A nonprobability sample of 75 mild-to-moderately injured TBI survivors and their significant others, were recruited from five TBI day-rehabilitation programs. All participants were within 2 years of the date of injury and were living in the community.

METHODS: During face-to-face interviews, demographic information, and estimates of brain injury severity were obtained and participants completed a cognitive battery of tests of directed attention and short-term memory, responses to the Perceived Stress Scale, Interpersonal Relatedness Inventory, Sense of Belonging Instrument, Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory, and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale;.

FINDINGS: Chronic stress was significantly and positively related to post-TBI depression. Depression and postinjury sense of belonging were negatively related. Social support and results from the cognitive battery did not explain depression.

CONCLUSIONS: Postinjury chronic stress and sense of belonging were strong predictors of postinjury depression and are variables amenable to interventions by nurses in community health, neurological centers, or rehabilitation clinics. Future studies are needed to examine how these variables change over time during the recovery process.