Assault-related mild traumatic brain injury, expectations of injury outcome, and the effect of different perpetrators: A vignette study.

Few studies have examined the effect of varying the assault perpetrator on expectations of outcome from mild TBI. Using a cross sectional between groups design, individuals with no history of mild TBI were randomly allocated to one of two vignette conditions. The vignette depicted a mild TBI with fixed injury parameters and a different assault perpetrator (partner, n = 27; or stranger, n = 27). The participants were instructed to imagine that they had been injured as per the depiction, and then to anticipate the injury consequences 6-months later. An online questionnaire was used including: the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory, the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version, the Impact of Events Scale-Revised, and the Perceived Ability to Cope with Trauma. The depicted injury was rated for the extent to which it was perceived as life-threatening, the subsequent diagnosis, and the global recovery prospects. The anticipated consequences of the injury (symptoms and trauma variables) did not differ across the conditions, all p's > 0.05. The expected outcomes for an assault-related mild TBI were not affected by perpetrator type. However, the study had several limitations and further consideration of this factor may still be warranted.