The concept of “sense of coherence” and the development of posttraumatic stress disorder in traffic accident victims

• Published in: Journal of psychosomatic research Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 343 - 348
• Main Authors: Frommberger, Ulrich, Stieglitz, Rolf-Dieter, Straub, Steffen, Nyberg, Elisabeth, Schlickewei, Wolfgang, Kuner, Eugen, Berger, Mathias
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.04.1999; New York, NY Elsevier
• Subjects: Accidents; Accidents, Traffic - psychology; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Coping; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Length of Stay; Male; Medical sciences; Personality; Personality Disorders - complications; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Salutogenesis; Sampling Studies; Self Concept; Sense of coherence; Statistics, Nonparametric; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - etiology; Trauma Severity Indices; Wounds and Injuries - complications; Wounds and Injuries - psychology; Wounds and Injuries - rehabilitation; Salutogenesis; Sense of coherence; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Personality; Coping; Psychopathology; Accidents; Human; Life events; Posttraumatic syndrome; Vehicle driving; Anxiety disorder; Traffic accident; Comprehension; Stress
• ISSN: 0022-3999; 1879-1360
• DOI: 10.1016/S0022-3999(98)00117-2

According to the “sense of coherence” concept, those subjects who can give meaning to a traumatic event can comprehend what has happened and have a sense of manageability of the sequelae, are able to cope better with the traumatic event itself. In the present study, this concept was applied to traffic accident victims. Severely injured traffic accident victims were assessed a few days after the accident and at 6-month follow-up. At follow-up, patients filled in the 29-item version of the Sense of Coherence (SOC) self-rating scale. The results show that the SOC total score correlated negatively with the development of: (i) posttraumatic psychopathology; (ii) psychological disorders (i.e., posttraumatic stress disorder after the accident); and (iii) anxious cognitions. The personality trait of neuroticism correlated negatively and extraversion and frustration tolerance correlated positively with SOC total score. Previous hypotheses are supported by our findings.