Citation

Wu KK, Cheung MW. J. Trauma. Stress 2006; 19(6): 923-936.

Affiliation

Department of Clinical Psychology, Caritas Medical Centre, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China. wukyk@ha.org.hk

Erratum On

J Trauma Stress 2007;20(3):371

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jts.20178

PMID

17195968

Abstract

Features of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for 596 survivors of motor vehicle accidents were examined by self-report measures at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after the motor vehicle accident (MVA). Latent growth modeling was utilized to study the trend and predictors of the level of distress. Results indicated that 5-20% of the participants reported to have a significant level of posttraumatic stress in one, two, or three of the PTSD symptom clusters within the period studied. Survivors with significant acute stress 1 week after the MVA had a higher risk for developing chronic posttraumatic stress. Although the severity of intrusive and hyperarousal symptoms decreased over time, the severity of avoidance symptoms remained unchanged. Factors predicting the course of PTSD after an MVA are identified.

Language: en