Posttraumatic stress disorder and retrospectively reported stressor exposure: A longitudinal prediction model

There has been recent concern about the degree to which posttraumatic stres s disorder (PTSD) symptomatology influences reports of prior exposure to hi ghly stressful life events. In this longitudinal study of 2.942 male and fe male Gulf War veterans, the authors documented change in stressor reporting across 2 occasions and the association between change and PTSD symptom sev erity. A regression-based cross-lagged analysis was used to examine the rel ationship between PTSD symptom severity and later reported stressor exposur e. Shifts in reporting over time were modestly associated with PTSD symptom severity. The cross-lagged analysis revealed a marginal association betwee n Time 1 PTSD symptom severity and Time 2 reported stressor exposure for me n and suggested that later reports of stressor exposure are primarily accou nted for by earlier reports and less so by earlier PTSD symptomatology.