Depression, anxiety, and stress as predictors of postconcussion-like symptoms in a non-clinical sample

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between postconcussion-like symptoms and depressive symptoms, anxiety and stress respectively. Seventy-one university students with a negative concussion history completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) and the British Columbia Postconcussion Symptom Inventory (BC-PSI). A multiple regression was conducted using the three DASS subscale scores as predictors of postconcussion-like symptoms. Depressive symptoms, anxiety and stress were significantly positively correlated with postconcussion-like symptoms at the bivariate level. When these three factors were examined together 72.9% of variance in BC-PSI total scores was explained overall. Stress and depressive symptoms emerged as significant multivariate predictors explaining 15% and 3% of unique variance, respectively. Anxiety was not a significant multivariate predictor. These results suggest that stress may be a more important predictor of postconcussion-like symptoms than previously identified. Findings are interpreted in light of Iverson (2012) conceptual model of poor outcomes from mild traumatic brain injury.