PTSD Symptoms, Disability, and Social Support in the Acute Period after a Traumatic Injury: A Preliminary Investigation of Competing Hypotheses

Background: Social support is hypothesized to protect against PTSD symptoms and disability. However, few studies have examined the direction of the relation among these variables in the acute period after a trauma. The current study examined the relation between social support, PTSD symptoms, and disability in the 3-months after a traumatic injury. Methods: Traumatic injury patients recruited from a trauma center completed measures of PTSD, social support, and disability within days of their trauma, 1 month later, and 3 months later. Results: Linear regressions suggested that PTSD symptoms and disability were negatively associated with subsequent social support. However, social support was unrelated to subsequent PTSD symptoms and disability. Conclusions: PTSD symptoms and disability erode social support in the acute period after a trauma. Social support was not found to protect against PTSD symptom severity or disability. Future work is needed to explore the precise mechanism by which this occurs.