Samantha Backhaus, Ph.D. (Principal Investigator)

Rehabilitation and recovery after brain injury can be delayed by distress and
impaired coping among these patients and their caregivers. A pilot study conducted
by Dr. Samantha Backhaus indicated that group treatment (including education about
brain injury and its effects, teaching of stress management skills, and supportive
psychotherapy) to improve coping skills after brain injury dramatically increased
perceived self-efficacy for treatment participants. Perceived self-efficacy (PSE) is a
person’s beliefs about their ability to have influence over events that affect their lives.
Having high PSE manifests in a person’s ability to say, “I may feel anxious and worried
about my situation, but I have the ability to get through this.” Those with poor PSE,
in contrast, will say “I feel anxious and out of control. There is nothing I can do.”
Preliminary results show that the most immediate effect of the group intervention is
on PSE which will allow survivors and caregivers to cope more effectively with the
stressors that accompany the injury. Moreover, studies showed that persons who had the
BICS treatment showed significant improvements in controlling their anger, irritability,
emotionality or being on an ‘emotional roller coaster,’ and impulsivity even when
compared to persons that got to participate in a standard support group. Many studies
have shown that if left alone without any treatment, individuals with brain injury tend to
feel worse over time. These studies have shown that individuals who did NOT get BICS
actually got worse over the long run, but those that got to participate in this treatment
actually maintained the improvements they made in their emotional well-being, perceived
self-efficacy, as well as their control of irritability and anger. The significance of these
studies is not only in identifying effective methods to assist persons with brain injury and
their caregivers, but also in identifying the reasons why this type of treatment is effective.
As such, this study won the 2009 McDowell Award presented by the American Society
for Neurorehabilitation.