title: Locus of control among spinal cord injury patients with different levels of posttraumatic stress disorder.
abstract: Two hypotheses were investigated in the present study: 1) Patients with full posttraumatic stress symptoms following spinal cord injury (SCI) would experience more general health problems than those with partial posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with no-PTSD and the control group; 2) Patients with full PTSD would endorse the external locus of control more than those with partial PTSD, no-PTSD and the control group. Sixty-two patients were recruited from a specialized rehabilitation clinic for spinal cord injury. The control group comprised 60 participants without SCI. Patients with SCI were assessed using the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) and the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC). The control group was assessed using the GHQ-28 and the MHLC. The full PTSD group experienced more somatic problems, anxiety, social dysfunction and depression than the partial PTSD, the no-PTSD and the control groups. The results also showed that the full PTSD group endorsed significantly more external health locus of control than the control group. However, no significant differences were found between the three patient groups in health locus of control. The three PTSD sub-scales were positively correlated with general health problems. Further analyses showed that partial PTSD patients with paraplegia and partial PTSD patients whose SCI had a medically related cause were more likely to report less internal locus of control than other patients. Patients who suffered from full PTSD experienced more general health problems than those with fewer PTSD symptoms and those without SCI. External locus of control was a distinctive strategy that SCI-PTSD patients used in coping with the effects of SCI-PTSD.
authors.affiliation: University of Plymouth, Clinical Psychology Teaching Unit, Peninsula Allied Health Centre, Derriford Road, Plymouth, PL6 8BH, UK. m.chung@plymouth.ac.uk
authors.forename: Man Cheung
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Preveza
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Papandreou
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Prevezas
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires