A-133 Understanding Caregiver Anxiety after Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Objective
After an individual sustains a severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI), the recovery process continues, as there are often long-standing difficulties in cognitive, behavioral, and physical abilities. People who care for individuals living with sTBI experience unique challenges. The term to best explain these challenges is caregiver burden. More often than not in research, caregiver burden combines stress and the emotional toll with the most challenging behaviors they encounter. This systematic review aims to assess anxiety for sTBI caregivers.

Methods
A search for recent, peer-reviewed publications was conducted using GALILEO, which encompasses PsychINFO and PubMed, with the terms “caregiver burden,” “care recipient,” “caregiver,” “burden,” “anxiety,” “stress,” “strain,” “traumatic brain injury” which resulted in N = 1,013 total articles. After excluding irrelevant studies lacking anxiety and sTBI, N = 8 articles remained.

Results
A review of relevant studies revealed many psychosocial factors that contribute to anxiety including perceived stress/strain management, coping style, and level of care. When an individual had a dual diagnosis of sTBI and psychiatric disorder (e.g., depression) combined with behavioral disturbances (e.g., anger), caregivers showed increased anxiety. Similarly, caregivers’ anxiety increased depending on military career, gender, and relationship status. Protective factors for caregivers included social support and psychotherapeutic interventions, specifically brief structured psychoeducation.

Conclusions
The results of this systematic review highlight the specific challenges sTBI caregivers face and subsequent anxiety. Individuals with sTBI experience adjustment phases post-injury, and the caregivers experience the transitions alongside the survivor. Future research should investigate how to increase caregiver protective factors and manage the impact of caregiver anxiety on individuals with sTBI.