Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2020 Oct;33(5):864-865.
doi: 10.1002/jts.22594. Epub 2020 Oct 2.

The Methodological Problem of Identifying Criterion A Traumatic Events During the COVID-19 Era: A Commentary on Karatzias et al. (2020)

Roel Van Overmeire  1
Affiliations
Comment

The Methodological Problem of Identifying Criterion A Traumatic Events During the COVID-19 Era: A Commentary on Karatzias et al. (2020)

Roel Van Overmeire. J Trauma Stress. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

A recent study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress demonstrated that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) rates in Ireland are as high as 17.7% and that this could be related to the COVID-19 pandemic (Karatzias et al., 2020). However, this number is probably skewed, as the fundamental requirement for a PTSD diagnosis-namely, a life-threatening or severely stressful event-was not fulfilled. In this comment, the consideration of COVID-19-related PTSD to represent a diagnosis is questioned based on the definitions of PTSD in the ICD-11 and DSM-5.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment on

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association . (2014). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed). Author.
    1. Cheng, S. K. , Chong, G. H. , Chang, S. S. , Wong, C. W. , Wong, C. S. , Wong, M. T. , & Wong, K. C. (2006). Adjustment to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS): Roles of appraisal and posttraumatic growth. Psychology and Health, 21(3), 301–317. 10.1080/14768320500286450 - DOI
    1. Cloitre, M. , Shevlin, M. , Brewin, C. R. , Bisson, J. I. , Roberts, N. P. , Maercker, A. , Karatzias, T. , & Hyland, P. (2018). The International Trauma Questionnaire: Development of a self‐report measure of ICD‐11 PTSD and complex PTSD. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 138(6), 536–546. 10.1111/acps.12956 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cloitre, M. , Hyland, P. I. , Bisson, J. , Brewin, C.R. , Roberts, C.P. , Karatzias, T. , & Shevlin, M. (2019). ICD‐11 posttraumatic stress disorder and complex posttraumatic stress disorder in the United States: A population‐based study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 32(6), 833–842. 10.1002/jts.22454 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Durodié, B. , & Wainwright, D. (2019). Terrorism and post‐traumatic stress disorder: A historical review. Lancet Psychiatry, 6(6), 61–71. 10.1016/s2215-0366(18)30335-3 - DOI - PMC - PubMed