The 2000 Clinical Research Award - Describing and predicting distress and satisfaction with life for burn survivors

We investigated ratings of emotional distress and satisfaction with life at discharge from the hospital and at a 6-month follow-up in a multisite samp le of 295 adults hospitalized for the care of a major burn injury. Several psychosocial variables (history of alcohol abuse, marital status, and previ ous mental health) and some medical variables (days of intensive care, pulm onary complications, and hand burns) accounted for significant variance in the prediction of outcomes. Brief Symptom Inventory (distress) scores were higher and Satisfaction With Life Scale scores were significantly lower tha n those of a normative population at both measurement points. The results s how the utility of biosocial models in which psychological and physical var iables interact to influence adjustment and quality of life.