Article

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To further evaluate the construct validity of the La Trobe
Communication Questionnaire (LCQ) and to investigate the extent to which
self-ratings of adults with traumatic brain injury compared to ratings made by
close others and self-ratings made by non-injured matched controls. Research
design: Prospective cohort study. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Two hundred and
seventy-six adults with TBI (121 of which are >1-year post-injury and previously
enrolled in TBI Model Systems and 155 of which were consecutively admitted to a
Level 1 trauma centre and were at least 6-months post-injury) completed the La
Trobe Communication Questionnaire. In addition, for the TBI Model systems sample,
88 friends/family members and 80 non-injured matched controls participated. MAIN
OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Principle components analysis with varimax rotation yielded
four factors: Initiation/Conversational Flow, Disinhibition/Impulsivity,
Conversational Effectiveness and Partner Sensitivity, which were found to have
adequate internal consistency. Adequate discriminative validity was obtained in
comparing adults with TBI to non-injured matched controls, while no significant
differences were found between self-ratings of communication abilities by adults
with TBI and those made by close others. CONCLUSIONS: Additional support for the
LCQ as a useful measure of perceived social communication abilities was obtained.
Confirmatory factor analysis with a larger sample of adults with TBI will be a
useful step in further development of this tool.

Langue : ANGLAIS