The relationship of attribution of responsibility to acute stress disorder among hospitalized burn patients.

Overview

Attribution of responsibility for a traumatic event has been related to subsequent adjustment. Self-blame has been associated with better adjustment in some cases and worse in others, whereas other-blame has consistently been associated with poorer outcomes. This study assessed the relationship between attribution of responsibility and acute stress disorder (ASD) in burn victims. Hospitalized burn patients (N = 124) underwent psychological assessment within 2 weeks of their burn injury. Participants were categorized as reporting self-blame (N = 49), other-blame (N = 36), both (N = 10), or neither (N = 29). Twenty-three percent of those with other-blame were diagnosed with ASD, compared with 0% of those with self-blame. Self-blame and other-blame also were related to ASD in logistic regression analyses controlling for demographic and medical variables. With both types of blame in the same model, self-blame was significantly associated with lower rates of ASD, whereas other-blame was related to higher rates, but this did not reach significance. When analyzed in separate models, both of these relationships attained statistical significance. These findings have implications for identifying and treating people at risk for posttraumatic stress disorder after exposure to trauma.