The Efficacy of a Group Intervention to Develop Resilience in Family Members of Individuals with TBI

To determine the efficacy of a manualized group intervention to develop resilience and social support in family members of persons with TBI. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) with three arms (five 2-hour sessions, one 5-hour session, and waitlist control) will be tested. The central premise is that building resilience and social support is necessary and possible in family members to aid their coping and engagement, for themselves and the person with TBI. 159 individuals identified by a person with TBI as a close support will be enrolled in one of the three treatment arms. The individuals with TBI (n = 159) in each dyad will also be tracked via measures sensitive to their family member’s participation in the intervention. Assessments will be conducted at baseline (prior to intervention), 5 weeks and 3 months, with TBI participants assessed at baseline and 3 months. We expect that both interventions will result in improved primary outcomes (resilience and social support) and secondary outcomes (psychological flexibility, quality of life, community integration, self-care) as compared to waitlist control. It is also expected that improved resilience and psychosocial outcomes in the family members will be associated with improved functioning in the persons with TBI for whom they care.