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The Experience of Litigation after TBI. I: Barriers to Recovery

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Abstract

Prior studies have frequently noted elevated symptom endorsement among traumatic brain injury (TBI) litigants compared to nonlitigants with TBI, with little examination of potential litigation-related stressors. This qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with eight current and nine past litigants was designed to improve our understanding of factors associated with the distress experienced by TBI litigants. Part one of this two-part publication (part two is a separate paper in review) focuses on the litigation experience in the domains of emotional, cognitive, physical, and psychosocial functioning and coping strategies. Themes of experiencing stagnation, feeling confused, and being misunderstood emerged among current litigants, and themes of being able to move forward and feeling increased distress were extracted from reports by past litigants. These qualitative accounts may help medical and legal professionals to understand how litigation-related factors may interfere with TBI recovery and recognize barriers to recovery.

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Acknowledgment

This research was supported in part by a grant from APA American Psychology-Law Society Division 41. We thank the late Joshua Cantor, Ph.D. for his contributions and assistance with research design. We also thank Pascale M. Josama and Tausif Billah for assistance with establishing trustworthiness of response coding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rusk Rehabilitation, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Yuka K. Matsuzawa

  2. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA

    Marcel P. Dijkers

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  1. Yuka K. Matsuzawa
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  2. Marcel P. Dijkers
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Correspondence to Yuka K. Matsuzawa.

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Matsuzawa, Y.K., Dijkers, M.P. The Experience of Litigation after TBI. I: Barriers to Recovery. Psychol. Inj. and Law 7, 388–396 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12207-014-9204-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12207-014-9204-0

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