Abstract
The psychological adjustment in a group of spouses whose partners had incurred cerebrovascular injury was investigated through a questionnaire. The respondents in the study included 38 wives and 14 husbands whose partners had suffered a stroke. Among the patients, 28 had right brain damage (18 with neglect, 10 without) and 24 had left brain damage (18 with aphasia, 6 without). The questionnaire mailed to each spouse consisted of 38 items to assess the respondent's adjustment in terms of l) role change, 2) emotional aspect and 3) communication. The responses of the spouses were analyzed using chi-square tests.
The results were as follows. 1) With respect to role changing, greater difficulties in adjustment were experienced in spouses whose partners had higher brain function disorders as compared to those of patients free from disorders in higher brain function. 2) In the emotional aspect, spouses of patients with neglect manifested notably negative emotions toward their partners. 3) In the aspect of communication, both patients with left brain damage and those with right brain damage seemed to have problems in communication to some degree.
