Examining Coping and Resilience in People with Acquired Brain Injury During the Pandemic

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: To understand the relationship between use of coping skills and resilience in adults with an acquired brain injury (ABI) during the beginning of the Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. DESIGN: Survey data was collected via online platform, Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap). SETTING: The general community. PARTICIPANTS: Participants as part of a convenience sample included self-identified adults with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) or stroke, 18 years or older (n = 99). Exclusion criteria were other neurological diagnoses or serious mental illnesses. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The outcome measures were the following: COVID-19 Experiences subsection of the COVID-19: Impact of the Pandemic and Health Related Quality of Life in Cancer Patients and Survivors Scale (Cov-PHRQoL) and the Brief Resilient Coping Scale. RESULTS: There was a significant group difference for race, (p = .04), with the Non-Coping Group having more people of minority status. The Coping Group reported a greater appreciation of family and friends (p= .001), greater appreciation for life (p= .001), more grateful for each day (p= .001), accepting of what they can't change (p= .001), and finding new ways to connect family and friends (p= .001). Compared to the Non-Coping Group, the Coping Group reported significantly greater resiliency and growth from a difficult situation (p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to examine the relationship between coping skills and resilience in people with ABI when faced with a novel stressor. People who utilized coping skills demonstrated positive outcomes in the form of perceived benefits and greater appreciation for who they had in their life. Furthermore, the Coping group was able to reframe difficult situations to find psychological growth. More research must be done to determine the relationship between coping skills and resilience in people with ABI, as well as what aspects of coping skills and resilience are most crucial to producing positive outcomes for people with ABI when faced with novel stressors. AUTHOR(S) DISCLOSURES: None.