Emotional experiences one year after a traffic accident: An exploratory study of verbatim accounts of the ESPARR cohort

The aim of this study was to characterize different possible profiles of emotional experiences of victims of traffic accident based on verbatim accounts collected one year after the accident, and to relate these profiles to various socio-demographic and health data. A hierarchical cluster analysis of the emotional lexicon was made by categorizing and quantifying the EMOTAIX© lexicon using Tropes© text analysis software. Out of the 751 selected subjects, 328 expressed one or more emotional experiences. A link appeared between quality of life (QoL), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the valence of expressed emotions. Injury severity and history distinguished two sets expressing negative-valence emotional experience. Paradoxically, a group also emerged with a large proportion of severely injured persons, associated with the expression of positive-valence emotional experiences and with domains of QoL and PTSD. The analysis of subjective data sheds light on the experience of traffic accident victims and shows a way forward for research and clinical intervention.