Online family training after traumatic brain injury: A parallel randomized control trial.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate an online intervention to support family members of individuals who sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

RESEARCH

DESIGN

Randomized control trial. Parallel assignment to TBI Family Support (TBIFS) intervention or enhanced usual care control (TAU). Three testing timepoints: pretest baseline (T1), posttest within 2 weeks of assignment (T2), and follow-up 1 month after posttest (T3).

SETTING

Online.

PARTICIPANTS

Sixty-eight caregivers recruited nationally: 18 years of age or older, English speaking, providing primary caregiving to an adult family member with TBI and mild to moderate disability.

INTERVENTION: Eight interactive modules providing information about cognitive, behavioral, and social consequences of TBI, training in problem-solving framework, and application exercises (N = 35). TAU was an informational website (N = 33).

MEASURES: Proximal outcomes-program use, usability, and user satisfaction for TBIFS participants. Primary outcomes-TBI content knowledge, strategy application objective response and open-ended response, and strategy-application confidence. Secondary outcomes-appraisals of burden, satisfaction, uncertainty in mastery, guilt, and negative environment.

RESULTS

Proximal outcomes-about 80% of TBIFS participants completed the posttest assessment, and 91% reported moderate to high usability and user satisfaction. Primary outcomes-greater posttest gains in TBI content knowledge for TBIFS than TAU (t = 3.53, p = .0005, adjusted p = .0090, d = 0.91). Gains maintained through follow-up (t = 2.89, p = .0038, adjusted p = .0342, d = 0.90). No other effects for the primary or secondary outcomes.

CONCLUSION

TBIFS improved TBI content knowledge relative to TAU. Modifications might be needed to improve application and distal outcomes for caregivers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).