A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS SYNDROME AMONG INDIVIDUALS EXPOSED TO DIFFERENT STRESSOR EVENTS

The authors extend their gratitude to Lida Allen for her contribution to the statistical analyses presented in the paper. This paper is an adaptation of a chapter in Trauma and Its Wake, C. R. Figley (Ed.). Brunner/Mazel Publishers (in press). The purpose of the present study was to compare post-traumatic stress syndrome among persons involved in nine different stressor events: combat in the Vietnam War; rape; serious life-threatening events; divorce; the death of a significant other; critical, near fatal illness of a significant other; family trauma; multiple traumatic events; and no stressful event. To assess the severity of the symptoms which define post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), th