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Effects of litigation settlements on posttraumatic stress symptoms in motor vehicle accident victims
Author(s) -
Blanchard Edward B.,
Hickling Edward J.,
Taylor Ann E.,
Buckley Todd C.,
Loos Warren R.,
Walsh Janine
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1023/a:1024407321677
Subject(s) - anxiety , posttraumatic stress , depression (economics) , settlement (finance) , motor function , psychiatry , psychology , vehicle accident , injury prevention , poison control , medicine , environmental health , physical medicine and rehabilitation , surgery , business , finance , economics , payment , macroeconomics
In order to investigate the effects of the initiation of litigation and its settlement on victims of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs), we followed up 132 MVA victims from an initial assessment 1 to 4 months post‐MVA for 1 year. Of the 67 who had initiated litigation, 18 (27%) settled within the 12 months, while 49 still had litigation pending; 65 never initiated litigation. Those who initiated litigation had more severe injuries and higher initial levels of posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. All three groups improved in major role function and had reduced PTS symptoms over the 1 year follow‐up. Those whose suits were still pending, as well as those whose suits had been settled, showed no reduction in measures of anxiety or depression, whereas the nonlitigants did show improvement on these measures.