Perceptions of communication abilities for persons with traumatic brain injury: validity of the La Trobe Communication Questionnaire

• Published in: Brain injury Vol. 22; no. 12; p. 940
• Main Authors: Struchen, Margaret A, Pappadis, Monique R, Mazzei, Diana K, Clark, Allison N, Davis, Lynne C, Sander, Angelle M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.01.2008
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Brain Injuries - psychology; Communication; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Family; Female; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results; Self-Assessment; Surveys and Questionnaires - standards; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1362-301X
• DOI: 10.1080/02699050802425410

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. Prospective cohort study. 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. 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. 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.