The Impact of Social Support on the Relationship Between Trauma History and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms fin Motor Vehicle Accident Victims

The present study examined how different types of social support differentially moderated the relationship between lamina history characteristics and the development of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PISS) following a motor vehicle accident (MVA). Two hundred thirty-Jive MVA victims,self-reported levels of social support and trauma history. and were evaluated,tor PTSS 6- and 12-months post-MVA. Results indicated that after controlling for gender, injury severity and income, number of prior trauma Ives. and subjective responses to prior traumatization predicted subsequent PTSS (ps < .05). Appraisal social support was a significant moderator of the Inuit number of types of trauma (appraisal: 6-months beta = -.16, p <.05; 12-months beta =.17, p < .05) and subjective physical injury during the prior trauma (appraisal: 6-months beta = -.14, p <.05; 12-months beta = .19, p <.05) in predicting PTSS. Results underscore the importance of examining both trauma history and social support as multidimensional constructs and suggest merit to addressing social support in trauma victims with a prior trauma history.