Title:
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Psychological adjustment to acquired brain injury
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Acquired brain injury (ABI) has a significant impact upon wide areas of a person's life including cognition, physical health, mood and social functioning, thus posing significant challenges to psychological adjustment. However, the literature is unclear in defining the theoretical concept of adjustment, and is lackinq in synthesis, In addition, there is a growing body of research indicating that a wide range of psychological outcomes are experienced after ABI ranging from psychological distress to more positive outcomes such as posttraumatic growth, although traditionally a focus has been maintained on distress. The first paper considers psychological adjustment from a theoretical and empirical perspective in relation to traumatic brain injury (TBI). The second paper addressed a gap in the literature regarding positive outcomes after ABI by conducting a qualitative exploration of nine individuals' experiences of positive psychological changes after sustaining an ABI. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to investigate these experiences. Three overarching themes were identified: (1) positive psychological changes; (2) Drivers of positive changes; and (3) I'm the same as before, but I know things are different. The findings of this study make a contribution to the growing evidence that individuals' with ABI do experience positive outcomes, and highlights the complexity of these experiences. Both papers discuss future research and clinical implications.
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