Characterizing computer-mediated communication, friendship, and social participation in adults with traumatic brain injury.
Margaret A Flynn, Arianna Rigon, Rachel Kornfield and 3 others
PMID 31100990WHAT IT FOUND
Adults with TBI contacted friends by face-to-face, phone, email, and social media at similar rates to peers, but used texting less often as their main method.
They also had fewer friends and lower social participation.
Key findings
01Texting was the communication method that differed most clearly: adults with TBI used it as the primary contact method for 2.77% of friendship network members, compared with 22.4% for healthy peers, while other methods were used in similar proportions.
02Adults with TBI reported an average of 12.92 friends, compared with 22.77 friends for healthy comparison adults.
03Adults with TBI had lower overall social participation and productivity scores, and 36% were unemployed compared with 11.54% of healthy peers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The brain injury group had mostly men and the comparison group had mostly women, so sex may have affected some comparisons even though the researchers adjusted for it. The sample was small and recruited from a larger convenience sample, so it may not represent all adults with TBI. People with aphasia, language or learning disabilities, or mental health diagnoses were excluded, so findings may not apply to those patients. Participants reported only one main communication method for each friend, so relationships using several channels were not captured. The study did not ask whether participants had access to smartphones or internet, or what barriers prevented texting. The study did not distinguish friendships that exist only online, such as through social media.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The paper is listed as supported by NIH extramural research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that reduced texting caused the smaller friendship networks. The study compared adults at one time and did not test whether changing texting use would improve friendships or social participation.