Date of Award
Spring 2006
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Bardwell, Rebecca
Abstract
Every day across the United States, and in other countries as well, many accidents and assaults occur that result in traumatic injury and subsequent hospitalizations. Traumatic injuries have been found to produce psychological distress such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, but in varying rates. In other words, only some people experience emotional responses to such an extent that they meet criteria for a diagnosable psychiatric disorder after encountering a traumatic event such as a motor vehicle collision, physical assault, or industrial accident. Previous psychological studies have explored various factors believed to increase or decrease the risk for developing these disorders following traumatic injury, but continued research into these factors is still needed, specifically research into psychological, rather than demographic (age, gender, race) and objective variables (severity, or type of injury) ( e.g., Jeavons, Greenwood, & Home, 2000; Ozer, Best, Lipsey, & Weiss, 2003; Zatzick, Russo, & Katon, 2003 ).