Citation

Smith HL, Summers BJ, Dillon KH, Cougle JR. J. Anxiety Disord. 2016; 38: 55-61.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Florida State University, P.O. Box 3064301, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA. Electronic address: cougle@psy.fsu.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.01.007

PMID

26826984

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is generally assessed with reference to a "worst-event" (index) trauma, though little research has examined whether symptom presentation and comorbidity differ across worst-events. Data from individuals meeting lifetime PTSD criteria in the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (N=398) were used to examine relations between PTSD presentation and comorbidity with the three most commonly reported "worst-event" trauma types: sexual trauma, non-sexual physical violence, and unexpected death of a loved one. Sexual trauma and non-sexual physical violence were associated with more symptomatic presentation of PTSD and lifetime trauma types compared to other worst-events. Non-sexual physical violence was associated with comorbid substance use disorder, and unexpected death of a loved one was associated with comorbid depression. Inclusion of number of lifetime trauma types as a covariate rendered most, but not all associations non-significant. These findings suggest worst-event trauma type is related to some important differences in PTSD presentation.

Language: en