Using Emotional Valence to Analyze Elicited Stories about an Important Event Told by Individuals with TBI in TBIBank

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be caused by a bump or blow to the head that disrupts normal functioning of the brain. A TBI often results in physical, cognitive, and emotional limitations. This study examined transcribed samples from individuals with a TBI prompted to describe an important event. Samples were accessed through the TBIBank database. A discrete scale was used to measure emotional valence and categorize each sample as positive, negative, or neutral. Further analysis was conducted to determine if various independent variables, such as age, sex, severity or years of education pre-injury have an impact on the valence of the important event described. We hypothesize a correlation between TBI severity and a negative emotional valence rating and a correlation between pre-injury years of education and a positive emotional valance rating