Relation of executive functioning and social communication measures to functional outcomes following traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Neuropsychologists are increasingly asked to provide recommendations regarding functional abilities based on test results, particularly within the rehabilitation setting. Yet, the empirical basis for making such recommendations is limited. The current study examines relationships between executive functioning and social communication measures and concurrently measured occupational and social integration outcomes. Participants were 121 individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) recruited from participants in a longitudinal study of outcome following TBI who had all received comprehensive brain injury rehabilitation. As part of a larger study designed to evaluate social communication abilities following TBI, participants completed measures of executive functioning, affect perception, perceived communication ability, and functional outcome. After adjusting for age, education, and performance on executive functioning measures, social communication performance accounted for a unique 5.6% of the variance in occupational outcomes and 7.9% of variance in social integration outcomes. Executive functioning performance accounted for a unique 13.3% of the variance in occupational functioning and 16.0% of explained variance in social integration. These results provide evidence of the value of executive functioning and social communication measures in the prediction of functional outcomes. Additionally, such results provide preliminary support for the addition of social communication measures to assessment of TBI in neuropsychological practice.