| Introduction: Psychosocial outcomes of burn survivors in the first year of rehabilitation are not
well studied. Considering the interrelationships among psychosocial processes in burn
survivors, we assessed three psychosocial variables (i.e., social support, social participation,
and body image) simultaneously in a longitudinal study.
Aims: This study aimed at identifying the developmental trajectory of the main study
variables and also discovering the causal pathways between social support, body image, and
social participation of burn survivors in the first year of rehabilitation.
Methods: One hundred individuals were enrolled in the study. The analysis was based on
three waves of data collected at the time of discharge, 6 months after discharge, and 12
months after discharge. We used MSPSS, SWAP, and the p-scale for measuring the variables
social support, body image, and social participation, respectively. A repeated-measures
analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to identify the major differences in the mean
levels of the main study variables across the three evaluation times. A structural equation
modeling (SEM) approach was implemented in four hypothesized cross-lagged models (M1,
M2, M3, and M4) to evaluate the bidirectional relationships among the main variables. All
hypothesized models were tested, and their goodness-of-fit indexes were compared to
identify the best fitting model.
Results: All three main variables worsen during the first six months after burn and then do not
return to their earlier level. The M4 (final model) chosen to represent the data showed the best
goodness-of-fit indexes (x2 (9)=51.76, p<.01, RMSEA=0.060, IFI=0.97, and CFI=0.98) among
all hypothesized models. The effect of social participation on body image, and vice versa,
seems to be relatively constant and steady. Social support at the time of discharge predicted
social participation at 12 months after burn, with the relationship mediated by body image at
6 months after burn.
Conclusion: Our study findings suggest that persistent care should be provided for burn
survivors even after discharge |