Do cognitive models help in predicting the severity of posttraumatic stress disorder, phobia, and depression after motor vehicle accidents? A prospective longitudinal study.

Abstract

The study investigated the power of theoretically derived cognitive variables to predict posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), travel phobia, and depression following injury in a motor vehicle accident (MVA). MVA survivors (N = 147) were assessed at the emergency department on the day of their accident and 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months later. Diagnoses were established with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM–IV. Predictors included initial symptom severities; variables established as predictors of PTSD in E. J. Ozer, S. R. Best, T. L. Lipsey, and D. S. Weiss's (2003) meta-analysis; and variables derived from cognitive models of PTSD, phobia, and depression. Results of nonparametric multiple regression analyses showed that the cognitive variables predicted subsequent PTSD and depression severities over and above what could be predicted from initial symptom levels. They also showed greater predictive power than the established predictors, although the latter showed similar effect sizes as in the meta-analysis. In addition, the predictors derived from cognitive models of PTSD and depression were disorder-specific. The results support the role of cognitive factors in the maintenance of emotional disorders following trauma.

Prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and depressive symptoms among burn survivors two years after the 2015 Formosa Fun Coast Water Park explosion in Taiwan

“…Both our results of multiple linear regression and random forest regression corroborate earlier findings of Kleim et al (2007) and Ehring et al (2008) that cognitive variables from Ehlers and Clark’s model of PTSD exerted a much stronger predictive validity than empirically-derived risk factors from the meta-analysis. Altogether, these findings lend support to the application of Ehlers and Clark’s model across trauma populations.…”

“…We expected that these all three sets of variables predict PTSD and depressive symptoms post-burn. Moreover, we sought to replicate the findings that theory-derived cognitive variables predict PTSD symptoms better than the factors derived from the meta-analysis (Ehring et al, 2008; Kleim et al, 2007). …”

“…rumination and thought suppression) are key maintaining factors for PTSD. Studies have consistently demonstrated their associations with PTSD symptoms across traumas, including assault and motor vehicle accidents (Ehring, Ehlers, & Glucksman, 2008; Kleim, Ehlers, & Glucksman, 2007). Their combined predictive power on PTSD and its symptoms were superior to that of the predictors from Ozer et al’s meta-analysis (Ehring et al, 2008; Kleim et al, 2007).…”

The effect of mental health on long-term health-related quality of life following a road traffic crash: Results from the UQ SuPPORT study

“…Rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; 6-45%) in RTCs have been extensively reported 10 , however rates for other psychological disorders are not as readily available. Research using self-reported symptom questionnaires from RTC samples estimate the incidence of depressive symptoms to be 10 percent 11 , anxiety symptoms to be 36 percent 12 , and travel phobia to be 20 percent 11 . The comorbidity between psychiatric illness and QoL has been extensively researched.…”

Trauma-related Symptoms after Violent Crime: The Role of Risk Factors before, during and Eight Months after Victimization

“…According to Krystal [14], disturbances of affect are central to all descriptions of traumatic stress and its sequalae, and it is the affective response to perception, modified through cognition and behavior, that determines the degree to which any event is to be considered traumatic. Other studies have highlighted the importance of the secondary appraisals themselves; Ehring et al found in a recent study that the actual cognitions after trauma had a great predictive power for posttraumatic distress [15]. PTSD has often been described as a mediator for negative health effects such as depression [16] and interpersonal problems [7].…”