Research report

ABSTRACT

This paper examined the hypothesis that PTSD-unique symptom clusters of re-experiencing, active avoidance and hyperarousal were more related to the fear/phobic disorders, while shared PTSD symptoms of dysphoria were more closely related to Anxious-Misery disorders (MDD/GAD).

Confirmatory factor and correlation analyses examining PTSD, anxiety and mood disorder data from 714 injury survivors interviewed 3, 12 and 24-months following their injury supported this hypothesis with these relationships remaining robust from 3–24 months post trauma. Of the nine unique fear-oriented PTSD symptoms, only one is currently required for a DSM-IV diagnosis. Increasing emphasis on PTSD fear symptoms in DSM-V, such as proposed DSM-V changes to mandate active avoidance, is critical to improve specificity, ensure inclusion of dimensionally distinct features and facilitate tailoring of treatment.

AUTHORS/AFFILIATIONS

David Forbes^{a, f, ,} , Ruth Parslow^{a, f}, Mark Creamer^{a, f}, Meaghan O’Donnell^{a, f}, Richard Bryant^b, Alexander McFarlane^c, Derrick Silove^d and Arieh Shalev^e

^a Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

^b School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia

^c Centre for Military and Veterans’ Health, University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

^d School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia

^e Department of Psychiatry, Traumatic Stress Center, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

^f Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

CITATION

Forbes D, Parslow R, Creamer M, et al. A longitudinal analysis of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and their relationship with Fear and Anxious-Misery disorders: Implications for DSM-V. J Affect Disord. 2010 Jun 2. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20605220.

KEYWORDS

Trauma; PTSD; Fear; Anxious-Misery; Factors; Latent

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