This paper presents the results of a longitudinal psychosocial study of 22 cranial trauma patients and 14 stroke patients from the time preceding injury (using retrospective data), through a 4-5 month intensive rehabilitation programme, to a follow-up 1 year after completion of the programme. Although the two groups of patients differed on several demographic and medical characteristics, essentially similar patterns for psychosocial decline following injury and improvement following rehabilitation could be observed. For both groups, the proportion in marital or cohabitational relationships returned to pre-injury levels, and for both groups the proportion requiring assistance in their living situation declined following rehabilitation, as did use of the health services. Virtually all patients in both groups had been in employment or undergoing education at the time of the injury, and although this percentage declined in practice to a small minority of both groups post-injury, there was a significant increase in the proportions working or in education following the rehabilitation programme. Similarly, the pattern of leisure-time activities in both groups declined post-injury and was restored following rehabilitation. Since both groups entered the programme at over 2·5 years post-injury, these generally encouraging results seem less likely to reflect spontaneous recovery than a beneficial effect of the programme itself.