Inconsistency in reporting potentially traumatic events

Br J Psychiatry. 2006 Mar:188:278-83. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.104.008102.

Abstract

Background: Research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) relies mainly on self-reports of exposure to trauma and its consequences.

Aims: To analyse the consistency of the reporting of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) over time.

Method: A community-based cohort, representative of the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, was interviewed at the ages of 34-35 years (in 1993) and 40-41 years (in 1999). A semi-structured diagnostic interview, including a section on PTSD, was administered.

Results: Of the 342 participants who attended both interviews, 169 reported some PTE (1993, n=110; 1999, n=120). In 1999, 56 participants (33.1%) reported for the first time PTEs that actually occurred before 1993, but which had not been reported in the 1993 interview. In total, 68 participants (40.2%) who had reported a PTE in 1993 did not report it in 1999. The overall frequency of inconsistent reporting was 63.9%.

Conclusions: The high level of inconsistency in the reporting of PTEs has implications for therapy as well as for research.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Cohort Studies
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Interview, Psychological
  • Life Change Events*
  • Male
  • Mental Recall
  • Psychometrics
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology*
  • Truth Disclosure*