Injury proneness and personality

The aim of this research was to investigate some personality factors among groups of 43 physically injured inpatients and 43 non-injured hospital-based controls. The participants completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and the Coping Styles Questionnaire (CSQ). Logistic regression was used to compare the two groups on six psychological risk factors. The univariate regression models suggested three possible risk factors: extraversion, sensitization, and avoidance coping style. The multivariate regression model supported only extraversion and sensitization of emotion. Next, patients in the experimental group were questioned about whether they had considered preventive measures before the accident and whether they felt responsible for their injuries. Correlation analysis showed that introverted subjects felt more responsible for the sustained injuries than their extraverted counterparts. Sensitizers and subjects who scored high on psychoticism, neuroticism, and emotional coping had not considered preventive measures as often as others. Finally, the principal component analysis of risk factors was used to extract two correlates of injury-prone behaviour: extraversion and sensitized avoidance. It was concluded that psychological factors play an important role in predicting injury that is significant enough to require inpatient treatment. Two potential mechanisms of psychological impact have been suggested, notably distraction in extraverted subjects and overestimation in sensitizing avoiders.