The aim of the present study was to investigate the development of, prediction of, protection against, and the course of psychological distress and well-being in a sample of patients with motor vehicle accident-related injuries, in a cohort study. In a secondary analysis, the question of whether psychiatric morbidity was associated with quality of life in 95 injured patients after motor vehicle accident at 1-month follow up, was investigated. Results indicated that psychiatric morbidity has an adverse effect on quality of life.