Misconceptions about traumatic brain injuries among South African university students

Objective. To investigate the incidence and type of misconceptions about traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) harboured by university students. Method. A convenience sample of 705 university students were recruited and data were collected using an electronic survey. The link to the survey was sent via e-mail to all registered students at Stellenbosch University. The participants had to complete the Common Misconceptions about Traumatic Brain Injury (CM-TBI) questionnaire. Results. The findings of this study suggest that the students subscribe to misconceptions from each of the 7 categories of misconceptions about TBIs. The mean percentages of misconceptions about TBIs were calculated and the amnesia (mean 49.7) and unconsciousness (mean 46.1) categories were identified as the categories about which the respondents had the most misconceptions; while the mean percentages of misconceptions were lower for the categories of recovery (mean 27.6); rehabilitation (mean 26.56); prevention (mean 20.8); brain injury sequelae (mean 18.7) and brain damage (mean 8.4). Conclusion. Generally; these findings appear to be in keeping with previous literature; which suggests that misconceptions about TBIs are common among the general population. This study's identification of these misconceptions could help create awareness; provide a focus for information provision; and contribute to the development of educational intervention programmes tailored for the South African context

Coping Responses as Predictors of Satisfaction with Life amongst a Group of Patients Diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which coping responses could predict the level of life satisfaction experienced by patients suffering from diabetes mellitus. A non-experimental; cross-sectional design was adopted. The sample consisted of 154 individuals (62 Type I diabetics; 80 Type II diabetics; and 12 individuals for whom diagnostic information was not available) recruited from the outpatient diabetes clinic at a large state hospital. All participants completed the Coping Responses Inventory - Adult Version; as well as the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Initially; Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the relationship between the predictor variables (coping responses) and the criterion variable (satisfaction with life). Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine the amount of variance in the satisfaction with life scores that was explained by coping responses. The combination of approach and avoidance coping subscales accounted for 33of the variance in the participants' satisfaction with life scores. However; upon further analysis; the avoidance coping subscales were found to account for 28of the variance in the sample's satisfaction with life. The cognitive avoidance subscale and the acceptance or resignation subscale were found to correlate negatively with satisfaction with life at the 1level of significance. It appears that approach coping responses do not predict the satisfaction with life experienced by individuals suffering from diabetes. However; avoidant coping responses; particularly cognitive avoidance and acceptance or resignation; are predictive of lower levels of satisfaction with life