THE ROLES OF SUPPORT AND SOCIAL PROBLEM SOLV ING IN SOCIAL INTEGRATION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH BRAIN INJURY

Individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) may not only struggle with physical and cognitive impairments, but may also face challenges reintegrating into the community socially. Research has demonstrated that following ABI, individuals’ social networks tend to dwindle, support may decline, and isolation increases. Social aspects of rehabilitation are often overlooked for more physical or cognitive symptom management. Social integration, however, may act as a protective factor for stress and has shown benefits for the rehabilitation process physically, cognitively, and psychosocially. Therefore, it may be vital to the rehabilitation process to examine factors promoting social integration. One important construct is that of social problem solving, which incorporates both the social and cognitive domains related to the rehabilitation of brain injury. Another such variable is social support, a factor previously shown to affect social outcomes. This study uses a sample of 102 individuals with ABI to examine factors impacting social integration. Predictors included emotional support, instrumental support, problem solving confidence, and approach-avoidance style of problem solving, while controlling for age, gender, education, and time since injury. Hierarchical regression was used to analyze whether these factors were predictive of social integration. Results demonstrated that emotional support was initially a significant predictor; however, when controlling for emotional support the variance in social integration was better accounted for by social problem solving—specifically, approachavoidance style. Given the results, a follow-up mediation analysis was conducted to look at social support as a mediator of the relationship between social problem solving (specifically, approach-avoidance style) on social integration. Findings indicated that the relationship between approach-avoidance style and social integration was indeed partially mediated by emotional support. This suggests that for individuals with ABI, their tendency to approach rather than avoid social problem solving issues is a significant predictor for social integration both directly and indirectly through its association with emotional social support.M.S. in Psychology, December 201