Fear, helplessness, and horror in posttraumatic stress disorder: investigating DSM-IV criterion A2 in victims of violent crime.
A DSM-IV diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) required for the first time that individuals must report experiencing intense fear, helplessness, or horror at the time of the trauma. In a longitudinal study of 138 victims of violent crime, we investigated whether reports of intense trauma-related emotions characterized individuals who, after 6 months, met criteria for PTSD according to the DSM-III-R. We found that intense levels of all 3 emotions strongly predicted later PTSD. However, a small number of those who later met DSM-III-R or ICD criteria for PTSD did not report intense emotions at the time of the trauma. They did, however, report high levels of either anger with others or shame.
Brewin
C R
CR
Subdepartment of Clinical Health Psychology, University College London, England.
Andrews
B
B
Rose
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000786:Anger; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology