Psychosomatic Medicine Faster Service from Outside North America
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Dougall, A. L.
Right arrow Articles by Baum, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Dougall, A. L.
Right arrow Articles by Baum, A.
Related Collections
Right arrow PTSD
Psychosomatic Medicine 63:402-411 (2001)
© 2001 American Psychosomatic Society

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Among Victims of Motor Vehicle Accidents

Angela Liegey Dougall, PhD, Robert J. Ursano, MD, Donna M. Posluszny, MS, Carol S. Fullerton, PhD and Andrew Baum, PhD

From the University of Pittsburgh (A.L.D., D.M.P., A.B.), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (R.J.U., C.S.F.) Bethesda, Maryland.

Address requests for reprints to: Andrew Baum, PhD, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Department of Behavioral Medicine and Oncology, 3600 Forbes Ave., Suite 405, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Email: baum{at}pcicirs.pci.pitt.edu

OBJECTIVE: This study identified factors that predict individual vulnerability to psychological trauma by examining the relationships among situation and person variables and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 1, 6, and 12 months after a serious motor vehicle accident (MVA).

METHODS: Background characteristics, exposure variables (ie, injury severity and accident characteristics), and psychosocial variables (ie, perceived loss of control, social support, and coping) were used to predict symptoms of PTSD and recovery in 115 injured MVA victims. All participants were injured during the MVA and provided data prospectively over the course of a year after their accidents.

RESULTS: Along with background and exposure variables, use of wishful thinking coping distinguished between victims with and without symptoms of PTSD.

CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial variables such as wishful thinking coping can be used to identify MVA victims who are at risk of developing chronic posttraumatic stress and warrant further investigation.

Key Words: posttraumatic stress disorder • social support • coping • stress • trauma.

Abbreviations: ANOVA = analysis of variance; DFA = discriminant function analysis; DSM-III-R = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, third edition revised; MANOVA = multivariate analysis of variance; MVA = motor vehicle accident; PTSD = posttraumatic stress disorder; SCID = Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R; SES = socioeconomic status.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Inj. Prev.Home page
N Wilson and G Thomson
Deaths from international terrorism compared with road crash deaths in OECD countries
Inj. Prev., December 1, 2005; 11(6): 332 - 333.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Psychosom. Med.Home page
H. A. Hamann, T. J. Somers, A. W. Smith, S. S. Inslicht, and A. Baum
Posttraumatic Stress Associated With Cancer History and BRCA1/2 Genetic Testing
Psychosom Med, September 1, 2005; 67(5): 766 - 772.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 TraumatologyHome page
N. Kawana, S.-i. Ishimatsu, Y. Matsui, S. Tamaki, and K. Kanda
Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Victims of Tokyo Subway Sarin Gas Attack
Traumatology, June 1, 2005; 11(2): 87 - 102.
[Abstract] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2001 by the American Psychosomatic Society