Legal events as predictors of posttraumatic stress in injured trauma survivors.

Prior research suggests that involvement in a lawsuit may be associated with the development of enduring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as well as inflated and potentially invalid symptom reports. This research aimed to describe the spectrum of legal events experienced by injured trauma survivors and prospectively assessed the association between legal events and PTSD symptoms. Over a nine month period, hospitalized injury survivors were randomly screened for study participation. Legal events were prospectively assessed, and PTSD symptoms were reported twelve months after the injury. Linear regression was used to determine the association between legal events and higher PTSD symptom levels. Increasing numbers of legal events were associated with significantly higher PTSD symptom levels. Seeking legal counsel (34%), being a victim of non-violent crime (14%), and involvement in a lawsuit (9%) were the most common legal events reported. None of these categories of legal events, however, were associated with significantly higher PTSD symptom levels. Because injury survivors are frequently involved in a spectrum of legal events, it is important for future research to assess the cumulative burden of legal events, as these experiences may represent recurring stressful life events that have the potential to exacerbate PTSD symptoms.