PREVALENCE OF TRAUMATIC EVENTS AND POSTTRAUMATIC PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS IN A NONCLINICAL SAMPLE OF COLLEGE-STUDENTS

The lifetime prevalence of traumatic events and their psychological im pact were assessed in 440 undergraduate students. Eighty-four percent of the subjects reported experiencing at least one event of sufficient intensity potentially to elicit Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) . One-third of the sample had experienced four or more traumatic event s. Subjects who had experienced trauma reported higher levels of depre ssion, anxiety, and PTSD symptomatology than nontraumatized subjects, and these symptoms were more intense in subjects who experienced multi ple traumas. Events that were particularly negative in their impact in cluded unwanted sexual experiences and events that subjects reported w ere too traumatic to discuss openly. Males and females differed in the ir probability of experiencing some types of events and in the psychol ogical response to certain events.