Acceptance of a trauma-focused survey: do personality and health matter?

Abstract

Health evaluations after trauma are often performed by postal surveys, although previous studies show that some participants experience distress reactions afterwards. The aim was to explore how former burn patients react to filling in a trauma-related survey and whether the reactions are related to individual factors. The survey contained 307 questions, of which one was an open question to elicit reactions to participation. Personality was measured with the Swedish universities Scales of Personality, health with the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief, and psychological health with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Impact of Event Scale-Revised. Participants were 78 (67%) adult burn patients, injured on average 3.9 years previously. Three groups of reactions were identified: positive/beneficial (55%), effort/time-consuming (32%), and negative/intrusive (13%). Only four participants expressed that the survey had been intrusive. Negative reactions were associated with maladaptive personality traits, poorer relationships, and more stress symptomatology, but not with burn severity or sociodemographic variables. Patients with self-inflicted injuries were evenly spread across the groups, but those with negative reactions were responsible for most of the group differences in individual factors. While a small subgroup reacted negatively, the majority accepted the trauma-focused survey and even found it beneficial.