Are spousal partner perceptions of continuity and discontinuity within the relationship linked to the symptoms of acquired brain injury?

Purpose: Some partners experience their relationship with a person with brain injury as the continuation of a loving pre-injury relationship (), but others feel that the pre-injury relationship has been lost and replaced with something very different (). This study provided a quantitative test of claims arising from qualitative research that certain symptoms of the injury might contribute to the experience of discontinuity - specifically, lack of emotional warmth, reduced social interaction and aggression.

Methods: Fifty-three partners providing care to someone with brain injury completed questionnaires assessing continuity/discontinuity and a range of symptoms (emotional warmth, conversational ability, aggression, depression, somatic complaints, cognition, communication, aggression, and physical disability).