The purpose of this study was to examine rates of and relationships between “post-concussive” symptom endorsement and symptom attribution in Veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). This cross-sectional, exploratory study included 48 combat-exposed Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans with remote history of mTBI. All Veterans completed clinical interviews and self-report questionnaires assessing sociodemographic factors, injury and combat-related variables, psychiatric distress, self-efficacy, and coping style. To assess symptom endorsement and symptom attribution, a modified version of the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory was administered. Results showed that the most commonly endorsed “post-concussive” symptoms were several non-specific symptoms, while the symptoms most frequently attributed to mTBI included forgetfulness, poor concentration, and headaches. Furthermore, although there were some overlapping correlates of both symptom endorsement and symptom attribution, unique variables were associated with each domain. Specifically, symptom endorsement was uniquely associated with measures of psychiatric distress, while symptom attribution was uniquely associated with having a history of loss of consciousness and a greater degree of combat exposure. Taken together, results suggest that endorsement of symptoms may be significantly impacted by the presence of mental health comorbidities, but that perceptions or beliefs as to why symptoms are occurring are related more to mTBI and combat-related characteristics. Findings offer potential avenues for therapeutic intervention, emphasize the importance of psychoeducation, and highlight the need to consider using alternate terminology for these symptoms that promotes recovery and minimizes misattribution of symptoms.

这项研究的目的是检查具有轻度脑外伤史（mTBI）的退伍军人的“脑震荡”后症状认可与症状归因的比率及其之间的关系。这项横断面，探索性研究包括48名有mTBI病史的伊拉克/阿富汗退伍军人。所有退伍军人都完成了临床访谈和自我报告调查表，评估了社会人口统计学因素，伤害和与战斗有关的变量，精神病困扰，自我效能感和应对方式。为了评估症状的认可和症状的归因，对神经行为症状清单进行了修改。结果表明，最普遍认可的“震荡后”症状是几种非特异性症状，而最常见的症状是归因于mTBI包括健忘，注意力不集中和头痛。此外，尽管症状认可和症状归因之间存在一些重叠的相关性，但每个域都有唯一的变量。具体而言，症状的认可与精神病困扰的测量方法唯一相关，而症状的归因与意识丧失的历史和更大程度的战斗暴露唯一相关。两者合计，结果表明，心理健康合并症的存在可能会严重影响症状的认可，但这种看法或关于为什么会出现症状的信念更多地与mTBI和与战斗相关的特征有关。研究结果为治疗干预提供了可能的途径，强调了心理教育的重要性，并强调了需要考虑对这些症状使用替代术语，以促进症状的恢复并最大程度地减少错误归因。