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Related Experiment Videos

Posttraumatic stress disorder. The stressor criterion.

N Breslau, G C Davis

    The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
    |May 1, 1987
    PubMed
    Summary

    Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a diagnosis with limited empirical validity research. Extreme stressors do not uniquely cause distinct psychiatric issues, differing little from ordinary stressful life events.

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    Area of Science:

    • Psychiatry
    • Psychology
    • Trauma Studies

    Background:

    • Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was formally recognized in psychiatric nomenclature in 1980 with its inclusion in DSM-III.
    • Despite its formal recognition, empirical research validating the PTSD diagnosis remains limited.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To critically evaluate the empirical basis for the diagnostic validity of PTSD.
    • To examine whether extreme stressors are qualitatively different from ordinary stressors in their psychiatric sequelae.

    Main Methods:

    • Literature review of studies on civilian and wartime disasters.
    • Analysis of research on ordinary stressful life events.
    • Comparative assessment of psychiatric outcomes following various types of stressors.

    Main Results:

    • Existing literature does not support the classification of extreme stressors as a distinct category regarding the likelihood or nature of psychiatric sequelae.
    • Both extraordinary and ordinary stressful events exhibit complex, differential effects on individuals.
    • Individual characteristics and social environment significantly influence responses to all types of stressors.

    Conclusions:

    • The empirical evidence does not differentiate extreme stressors from ordinary ones in predicting psychiatric outcomes.
    • The validity of PTSD as a distinct diagnostic category requires further empirical investigation.
    • Individual and environmental factors are crucial moderators of stress responses and psychopathology.

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