Citation

Bosmans MWG, Hofland HW, De Jong AE, Van Loey NE. J. Behav. Med. 2015; 38(4): 642-651.

Affiliation

INTERVICT, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands, m.w.g.bosmans@tilburguniversity.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10865-015-9638-1

PMID

25851608

Abstract

We conducted a three-wave prospective study among patients with burns (N = 178) to examine the prospective influence of coping self-efficacy (CSE) perceptions on trajectories of posttraumatic stress symptoms in the first 12 months after burn injuries. Using linear growth curve modeling, we corrected for demographics, the number of surgeries during initial admittance, trait coping styles, and changing levels of health-related quality of life. CSE during initial admission was by far the strongest predictor of both initial PTSD symptoms and degree of symptom change with higher CSE levels associated with lower initial symptoms and a steeper decline of symptoms over time. Of the other variables only avoidant coping was associated with higher initial symptom levels, and only emotional expression associated with greater rate of recovery. Current findings suggest that CSE plays a pivotal role in recovery from posttraumatic stress after a burn injury, even when the role of burn-related impairments is taken into consideration. Implications of findings are discussed.

Language: en