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Effects of Attribution of Responsibility for Motor Vehicle Accidents on Severity of PTSD Symptoms, Ways of Coping, and Recovery Over Six Months

  • Published:
Journal of Traumatic Stress

Abstract

In light of Delahanty et al.'s (1997) identification of attribution of responsibility for a motor vehicle accident (MVA) as a powerful determinant of initial level of distress from the trauma and of early remission of PTSD, we reexamined data from Blanchard and Hickling's (1997) prospective follow-up of 158 MVA survivors. Despite differences between the two samples (Delahanty sample recruited from hospitals 2–3 weeks post-MVA and predominantly male; our sample recruited from outpatient care 1–4 months post-MVA and predominantly female) we replicated Delahanty's findings: those with PTSD who blame themselves for the MVA are less symptomatic initially and recover more rapidly in the first 6 months than those with PTSD who blame another party for the accident.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Sage Colleges, and Center for Stress and Anxiety Disorders, University at Albany-SUNY, Albany, New York, 12203

    Edward J. Hickling, Edward B. Blanchard, Todd C. Buckley & Ann E. Taylor

Authors
  1. Edward J. Hickling
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  2. Edward B. Blanchard
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  3. Todd C. Buckley
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  4. Ann E. Taylor
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Hickling, E.J., Blanchard, E.B., Buckley, T.C. et al. Effects of Attribution of Responsibility for Motor Vehicle Accidents on Severity of PTSD Symptoms, Ways of Coping, and Recovery Over Six Months. J Trauma Stress 12, 345–353 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024784711484

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024784711484

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