1. Acquired Brain Injury ( #ABI) is a leading cause of death and #disability in young people. “ABI” refers to changes to one’s brain that could be caused by #trauma (e.g., road accident), #stroke, drugs, alcohol, poison, reduced oxygen to brain, #disease, infection or #tumours.

2. ABI is a major public health challenge, resulting in nearly 1000 hospital admissions daily in the UK and a 10% increase in incidence since 2005-6. There are many consequences of ABI including high rates of #depression and physical, emotional, psychological and social changes.

3. This thread summarizes a novel piece of research conducted by researchers @elainekinsella , @orlamuldoon and @uqchasla at @UL and @UQ_News , which examines the impact of social group factors on individuals’ level of functioning after ABI. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09602011.2018.1546194?casa_token=ALFkiFP0gDIAAAAA%3ArKFcNmjtF54003sarKLYndxcMqIfS0PQz11p3y-Uj5GZ2nSNkt1rPL4BTgb-3wnkbd1lu_z1ky6G

4. Specifically, this research looks at whether (and to what extent) *social group memberships play a role in *self-regulation and depression following ABI.

5. *Social group members include any group that could be related to work, sport, hobbies or interests, family, friends or community. For example, belonging to the local GAA team or craft group.

6. *Self-regulation essentially means managing one’s own thoughts, emotions & behaviour in a way that helps to achieve personal goals. Difficulties with self-regulation are common after ABI.

7. The study found that those who belonged to multiple social groups after ABI reported fewer symptoms of depression and showed better self-regulation skills than those who belonged to fewer social groups.

8. Its believed that belonging to multiple social groups provides opportunities to re-develop their self-regulation skills, which then reduces depression. It makes sense that participating more fully in life (due to effective self-regulation) reduces negative affect & depression.

9. In other words, interacting with different social groups and different people helps one to become better at managing and expressing one’s own thoughts and feelings in different situations, which in turn helps people to feel less depressed.

10. This supports other “ #socialcure” research that shows that groups can be positive for #mentalhealth, however, this is the first time the role of social groups in reducing depression by supporting self-regulation skills has been shown.

11. This research was funded by the Irish Research Council ( @IrishResearch ) & ABI Ireland ( @ABIIreland) as part of a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Limerick @UL and the Centre for Social Issues Research ( @CSIR) #loveirishresearch

12. This research may be interesting to those affected by #ABI, #TBI, or #Stroke and organisations that support those affected ( @ABIIreland, @HeadwayUK, @TheStrokeAssoc, @UKABIF). It reiterates the importance of social & support groups in the aftermath of acquired brain injury.

13. If you have any questions or would like to access the full research article, please contact the lead author @elainekinsella. Thank you for reading.