Exploring the Role of Social Cognition in Changes in Relationship Satisfaction and Relationship Continuity After Brain Injury.

Although an acquired brain injury (ABI) may bring some couples closer together, for other couples, an ABI may pose challenges to their relationship. Recent research has suggested that aspects of social cognition are amongst the strongest predictors of continuity in couples’ relationships after one partner experiences an ABI. The current study aimed to examine the role of social cognition in relationship satisfaction and continuity after ABI. Sixty-four participants who were in a relationship with someone who had experienced an ABI completed measures of their partner’s social cognition, their relationship satisfaction before and after injury, and a measure of relational continuity after ABI. It was found that the participants’ relationship satisfaction significantly decreased after injury, and that the average social cognition score for the group reporting a high change in relationship satisfaction was significantly poorer than the group reporting a low change in relationship satisfaction. Regression analysis suggested that overall social cognition could predict the continuity in relationships after injury, although no single content area on a measure of social cognition could predict relational continuity. Findings have implications for the impact of ABI on couples’ relationships and support to provide to couples following ABI.