Citation

Osborne-Crowley K, McDonald S, Francis H. J. Clin. Exp. Neuropsychol. 2015; 38(3): 341-353.

Affiliation

a School of Psychology , The University of New South Wales , Sydney , New South Wales , Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13803395.2015.1115824

PMID

26678068

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to validate a new observational measure of socially disinhibited behavior for use in a population of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

METHOD: Participants were twenty-two adults with severe TBI (mean age = 50.45 years) and 21 healthy comparison participants (mean age = 45.29 years). Ratings of observed social disinhibition were correlated with the disinhibition domain scores of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Disinhibition (NPI-D) and with Sydney Psychosocial Reintegration Scale (SPRS) scores. A regression analysis was undertaken to determine whether formal measures of disinhibition could predict observed disinhibition.

RESULTS: The interrater absolute agreement for the social disinhibition ratings was good, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) =.69. Participants with TBI were rated as significantly more disinhibited than comparison participants, t(25.05) = -2.07, p =.049. The ratings were positively correlated with the NPI frequency score (r =.45, p =.038) and distress score (r =.45, p =.035). The ratings were not related to change in employment or in interpersonal relationships on the SPRS, and formal measures of disinhibition were unable to predict observed social disinhibition.

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates good interrater reliability and construct validity of the observational measure. The results evidence the usefulness of this measure and the NPI-D for detecting social disinhibition after TBI.

Language: en