• Kurt Pettersson, Sven Brändström, Göran Toolanen, Christer Hildingsson, and Per-Olof Nylander.
• Department of Orthopedics, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden. kurt.pettersson@orebroll.se
• Eur Spine J. 2004 Aug 1; 13 (5): 408414408-14.

AbstractWe studied the relationship between whiplash injury and personality in 40 whiplash patients who admitted the hospital within 8 h from the car accident and 80 age- and gender-matched controls. For this purpose we used the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). We found that personality dimensions in whiplash patients both in the acute phase and at follow-up 2 years later showed the same results, i.e., significantly less Harm Avoidant (less anxious; low HA) than controls, but when dividing patients into groups depending on severity of outcome from whiplash injury 2 years after, no differences were found. According to our results personality symptoms related to whiplash injury is probably not a secondary phenomenon. Whiplash patients were normally developed in character, i.e., self-directedness (SD), and CO (cooperativeness) and therefore in general are capable of coping with their somatic problems.

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