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Richard J. McNally, PhD

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Copeland et al¹ found that more than two-thirds of children in western North Carolina are victims of trauma before their 16th birthday. Yet less than 0.5% developed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The striking discrepancy between the prevalence of trauma and the prevalence of PTSD is partly explained by conceptual bracket creep in the definition of trauma. The broader the concept of trauma, the lower the rate of PTSD is likely to be. Indeed, no longer need one be directly exposed to a potentially fatal event to qualify as a victim of trauma. People who merely learn about the serious misfortunes of others now qualify as trauma survivors themselves. As Copeland et al observed, such indirect experiences account for many cases of exposure in their study.

The shockingly high rate of trauma in the Copeland et al study notwithstanding, many studies indicate that crimes against children have . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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RELATED ARTICLE

Traumatic Events and Posttraumatic Stress in Childhood
William E. Copeland, Gordon Keeler, Adrian Angold, and E. Jane Costello
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007;64(5):577-584.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT