Traumatic stress

About: Traumatic stress is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 9321 publications have been published within this topic receiving 300138 citations.

Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey.

Abstract: Background: Data were obtained on the general population epidemiology of DSM-III-R posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including information on estimated lifetime prevalence, the kinds of traumas most often associated with PTSD, sociodemographic correlates, the comorbidity of PTSD with other lifetime psychiatric disorders, and the duration of an index episode. Methods: Modified versions of the DSM-III-R PTSD module from the Diagnostic Interview Schedule and of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview were administered to a representative national sample of 5877 persons aged 15 to 54 years in the part II subsample of the National Comorbidity Survey. Results: The estimated lifetime prevalence of PTSD is 7.8%. Prevalence is elevated among women and the previously married. The traumas most commonly associated with PTSD are combat exposure and witnessing among men and rape and sexual molestation among women. Posttraumatic stress disorder is strongly comorbid with other lifetime DSM-III-R disorders. Survival analysis shows that more than one third of people with an index episode of PTSD fail to recover even after many years. Conclusions: Posttraumatic stress disorder is more prevalent than previously believed, and is often persistent. Progress in estimating age-at-onset distributions, cohort effects, and the conditional probabilities of PTSD from different types of trauma will require future epidemiologic studies to assess PTSD for all lifetime traumas rather than for only a small number of retrospectively reported "most serious" traumas. (Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1995;52:1048-1060)

The Influence of Culture, Community, and the Nested-Self in the Stress Process: Advancing Conservation of Resources Theory

Abstract: Conservation of Resources (COR) theory predicts that resource loss is the principal ingredient in the stress process. Resource gain, in turn, is depicted as of increasing importance in the context of loss. Because resources are also used to prevent resource loss, at each stage of the stress process people are increasingly vulnerable to negative stress sequelae, that if ongoing result in rapid and impactful loss spirals. COR theory is seen as an alternative to appraisal-based stress theories because it relies more centrally on the objective and culturally construed nature of the environment in determining the stress process, rather than the individual’s personal construel. COR theory has been successfully employed in predicting a range of stress outcomes in organisational settings, health contexts, following traumatic stress, and in the face of everyday stressors. Recent advances in understanding the biological, cognitive, and social bases of stress responding are seen as consistent with the original formulation of COR theory, but call for envisioning of COR theory and the stress process within a more collectivist backdrop than was first posited. The role of both resource losses and gains in predicting positive stress outcomes is also considered. Finally, the limitations and applications of COR theory are discussed.

A dual representation theory of posttraumatic stress disorder.

Abstract: A cognitive theory of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is proposed that assumes traumas experienced after early childhood give rise to 2 sorts of memory, 1 verbally accessible and 1 automatically accessible through appropriate situational cues. These different types of memory are used to explain the complex phenomenology of PTSD, including the experiences of reliving the traumatic event and of emotionally processing the trauma. The theory considers 3 possible outcomes of the emotional processing of trauma, successful completion, chronic processing, and premature inhibition of processing. We discuss the implications of the theory for research design, clinical practice, and resolving contradictions in the empirical data.

Traumatic stress: The effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society.

Abstract: Part I: Background Issues and History. van der Kolk, McFarlane, The Black Hole of Trauma. McFarlane, van der Kolk, Trauma and its Challenge to Society. van der Kolk, Weisaeth, van der Hart, History of Trauma in Psychiatry. Part II: Acute Reactions. Shalev, Stress versus Traumatic Stress: From Acute Homeostatic Reactions to Chronic Psychopathology. Solomon, Laror, McFarlane, Acute Posttraumatic Reactions in Soldiers and Civilians. Part III: Defining and Diagnosing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Brett, The Classification of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. McFarlane, Girolamo, The Nature of Traumatic Stressors and the Epidemiology of Posttraumatic Reaction. McFarlane, Resilience, Vulnerability and the Course of Posttraumatic Reactions. van der Kolk, The Complexity of Adaptation to Trauma: Self-regulation, Stimulus Discrimination, and Characterological Development. van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Approaches to the Psychobiology of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Newman, Kaloupek, Feane, Assessment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Clinical and Research Settings. Part IV: Memory: Mechanisms and Processes. van der Kolk, Trauma and Memory. van der Kolk, van der Hart, Marmar, Dissociation and Information Processing in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Part V: Developmental, Social, and Cultural Issues. Pynoos, Steinberg, Goenjian, Traumatic Stress in Childhood and Adolescence, Recent Developments and Current Controversies. Prior Traumatization and the Process of Aging: Theory and Clinical Implications. Pitman, Sparr, Saunders, McFarlane, Legal Issues in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. de Vries, Trauma in Cultural Perspective. Part VI: Treatment. van der Kolk, McFarlane, van der Hart, A General Approach to Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Ursano, Grieger, McCarroll, Prevention of Posttraumatic Stress: Consultation, Training, and Early Treatment. Raphael, Wilson, Meldrum, McFarlane, Acute Preventive Interventions. Turnbull, McFarlane, Acute Treatments. Rothbaum, Foa, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Davidson, van der Kolk, The Psychopharmacological Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Lindy, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: The Nature of the Therapeutic Relationship. Turner, McFarlane, van der Kolk, The Therapeutic Environment and New Explorations in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.