Citation

Cloitre M, Cohen LR, Edelman RE, Han H. Women Health 2001; 34(3): 1-17.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, NY 10021, USA. mcloitre@med.cornell.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11708684

Abstract

This study examined the relative contributions of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms and the extent of trauma exposure as factors contributing to the current health status of childhood abuse survivors. Sixty-seven women with a history of familial childhood abuse (sexual and/or physical) and twenty-nine women with no abuse history were assessed on two distinct aspects of health status: reported number of medical problems and perceptions of overall health. Women with abuse were found to have a greater number of medical problems and poorer perceived physical well-being than the no abuse comparison group. Regression analyses of the women with abuse histories revealed that trauma exposure was a stronger predictor than PTSD symptoms of medical problems. PTSD symptoms, however, were better predictors of the experience of physical well-being than trauma exposure. These results suggest that the nature of a traumatic exposure, especially when there is repeated, cumulative trauma may be more significant to medical problems than the psychological symptoms of PTSD. Perceived health, however, appears to be predominantly influenced by psychological factors, suggesting the importance of these variables in the quality of life of multiply traumatized women.

Language: en