Predictors of posttraumatic stress among victims of motor vehicle accidents

Objective: This study identified factors that predict individual vulnerabil ity 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: B ackground characteristics, exposure variables tie, injury severity and acci dent characteristics), and psychosocial variables tie, perceived loss of co ntrol, social support, and coping) were used to predict symptoms of PTSD an d recovery in 115 injured MVA victims. All participants were injured during the MVA and provided data prospectively over the course of a year after th eir accidents. Results: Along with background and exposure variables, use o f wishful thinking coping distinguished between victims with and without sy mptoms of PTSD. Conclusions: Psychosocial variables such as wishful thinkin g coping can be used to identify MVA victims who are at risk of developing chronic posttraumatic stress and warrant further investigation.