Brain Sciences (Aug 2024)

Coping Strategies in Patients with Acquired Brain Injury: A Scoping Review

  • Davide Cardile,
  • Andrea Calderone,
  • Maria Pagano,
  • Irene Cappadona,
  • Carmela Rifici,
  • Angelo Quartarone,
  • Francesco Corallo,
  • Rocco Salvatore Calabrò

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14080784
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 8
p. 784

Abstract

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In recent years, there has been marked interest in looking at the psychological consequences of medical conditions, such as traumatic or acquired brain injuries. Coping strategies are essential for clinical recovery and for dealing with the stressful events that a clinical condition brings with it. The purpose of this review is to analyze studies that explore how coping strategies influence psychological changes in patients with acquired brain injury. Studies were identified from research in the PubMed, Scopus, and Embase databases. According to our findings, patients with ABI utilize different coping strategies based on the circumstances and factors such as the diagnosis severity, their age, time lived with the pathology, and personal characteristics, which have an influence on quality of life and rehabilitation. This review demonstrated that coping strategies have an impact on different aspects of the clinical and personal lives of patients with ABI. The rehabilitation process must consider the influence of these mechanisms on dealing with situations, as they can change cognitive and emotional perceptions of patients’ experience with the disease, as well as laying the foundations for functional or dysfunction in terms of the propensity of a person for the path of psychological and physical recovery.

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