Access Type

Open Access Dissertation

Date of Award

January 2016

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Lisa J. Rapport

Abstract

Health self-efficacy is important to health behaviors and self-management of chronic conditions. It has been associated with positive health and rehabilitation outcomes generally but has been understudied in acquired brain injury (ABI). Given the high rates of disability and long-term impairments associated with ABI, health self-efficacy and health behaviors are promising factors to evaluate in the assessment and management of ABI. This study examined the relationships among health self-efficacy, health behaviors, and functional independence in ABI rehabilitation, and the extent to which cognitive impairment and trait affectivity affected these relationships. This study also examined the unique role of rehabilitation self-efficacy as measured by the newly developed Rehabilitation Self-Efficacy Scale. Overall, this study found that health beliefs and trait affectivity provided important information about functional status after brain injury, their relative contributions to outcome prediction varied as a function of severity of cognitive impairment, and rehabilitation self-efficacy provided novel considerations for understanding these relationships. These findings highlight areas for potential interventions focused on health and rehabilitation beliefs to augment outcomes of brain injury rehabilitation.

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