PTSD symptoms in response to traumatic and non-traumatic events: The role of respondent perception and A2 criterion

The current study attempted to replicate the unexpected findings by Gold, Marx, Soler-Baillo, and Sloan [Gold, S. D., Marx, B. P., Soler-Baillo, J. M., & Sloan, D. M. (2005). Is life stress more traumatic than traumatic stress? Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 19, 687–698] that non-traumatic events were associated with greater levels of PTSD symptoms than traumatic events. The current study had two notable methodological differences. First, we included A2 trauma criteria (a response of intense fear, helplessness, or horror) in addition to A1 trauma criteria (the event is life-threatening) in defining traumatic events. Second, A1 and A2 trauma criteria were based on participants’ ratings, as opposed to classification by coders. Using this alternative methodology, results obtained were opposite of Gold et al. PTSD symptoms were greater for DSM-defined traumatic events in comparison to non-traumatic events. In addition, A1 trauma criterion had little to no relationship to PTSD symptoms when A2 criterion was considered. These results call into question the role of A1 trauma criterion and the definition of traumatic events.