Comparing Performance on Predictors of Academic Achievement Among Young Adults With and Without Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Abstract

PURPOSE: We investigated if performance on established predictors of academic achievement, namely self-efficacy, self-compassion, and growth mindset differ between young adults, primarily college students, with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their peers without TBI history. METHOD: Eighty-nine respondents anonymously filled out a brief online survey that included demographic questions regarding age, student status, possible TBI history and characteristics, and completion of three standardized predictive measures of academic achievement: the New General Self-Efficacy Scale (Chen et al., 2001), Self-Compassion Scale–Short Form (Raes et al., 2011), and Growth Mindset Scale (Dweck, 1999). An additional 12 participants with TBI from a previous study (Ackley, 2022) were included in our analyses. Data analyses were conducted to compare results at the group level between those participants with and without a TBI history. Additional analyses were conducted to investigate possible relationships between participant characteristics and outcome measures, as well as between the outcome scales. RESULTS: At the group level, respondents with a history of TBI demonstrated a statistically significant higher growth mindset than peers without a TBI history. Additionally, an age- and gender-matched comparison of a smaller subsample confirmed the group difference on growth mindset and revealed statistically significant higher self-efficacy scores among the student group with a TBI history. Neither age, nor gender were significantly related with the three outcome variables. Self-efficacy and self-compassion scores were significantly negatively correlated among all participants and growth mindset scores were not correlated with the other scales. TBI characteristics such as lifetime number of TBIs and severity of most recent TBI did not predict growth mindset scores among participants with TBI history. CONCLUSION: As a group, individuals with TBI—both college students and non-students—did not demonstrate significant differences on measures of self-efficacy and self-compassion relative to uninjured peers. They also demonstrated higher growth mindset. Thus, evidence does not support the assumption that these are areas of deficit for individuals with TBI history, which suggests that the New General Self-Efficacy Scale (Chen et al., 2001), Self-Compassion Scale—Short Form (Raes et al., 2011), and Growth Mindset Scale (Dweck, 1999) are not meaningful ways of measuring progress during cognitive-linguistic treatment in college students who have sustained TBIs unless an individual demonstrates specific deficits in these areas.