Socio-demographic and trauma-related predictors of depression within eight weeks of motor vehicle collision in the AURORA study

Jutta Joormann, Samuel A. McLean, Francesca L. Beaudoin, Xinming Huang, Jennifer Stevens, Donglin Zeng, Thomas C Neylan, Gari D Clifford, Sarah D. Linnstaedt, Laura T. Germine, Scott L. Rauch, Paul I. Musey, Phyllis L. Hendry, Sophia Sheikh, Christopher W. Jones, Brittany E. Punches, Gregory J. Fermann, Lauren A. Hudak, Kamran Mohiuddin, T. VISHNU MURTYMeghan E. McGrath, John P. Haran, Jose L Pascual, Mark Seamon, David A. Peak, Claire Pearson, Robert M. Domeier, Paulina Sergot, Roland C. Merchant, Leon D. Sanchez, Niels K. Rathlev, William F. Peacock, Steven Bruce, Deanna M Barch, Diego A. Pizzagalli, Beatriz Luna, Steven E. Harte, Irving Hwang, Sue Lee, Nancy A. Sampson, Karestan C. Koenen, Kerry J. Ressler, Ronald C. Kessler

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background
This is the first report on the association between trauma exposure and depression from the  A dvancing  U nderstanding of  R ec O very afte R  traum A (AURORA) multisite longitudinal study of adverse post-traumatic neuropsychiatric sequelae (APNS) among participants seeking emergency department (ED) treatment in the aftermath of a traumatic life experience.
Methods
We focus on participants presenting at EDs after a motor vehicle collision (MVC), which characterizes most AURORA participants, and examine associations of participant socio-demographics and MVC characteristics with 8-week depression as mediated through peritraumatic symptoms and 2-week depression.
Results
Eight-week depression prevalence was relatively high (27.8%) and associated with several MVC characteristics (being passenger  v.  driver; injuries to other people). Peritraumatic distress was associated with 2-week but not 8-week depression. Most of these associations held when controlling for peritraumatic symptoms and, to a lesser degree, depressive symptoms at 2-weeks post-trauma.
Conclusions
These observations, coupled with substantial variation in the relative strength of the mediating pathways across predictors, raises the possibility of diverse and potentially complex underlying biological and psychological processes that remain to be elucidated in more in-depth analyses of the rich and evolving AURORA database to find new targets for intervention and new tools for risk-based stratification following trauma exposure.


Original languageAmerican English
JournalPsychological Medicine
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020

Keywords

  • Anxiety
  • PTSD
  • depression
  • trauma

Disciplines

  • Psychology

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