Reliability of reports of violent victimization and posttraumatic stress disorder among men and women with serious mental illness

• Published in: Journal of traumatic stress Vol. 12; no. 4; pp. 587 - 599
• Main Authors: Goodman, Lisa A., Thompson, Kim M., Weinfurt, Kevin, Corl, Susan, Acker, Pat, Mueser, Kim T., Rosenberg, Stanley D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germantown Periodicals Service Company 01.10.1999; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Baltimore, Maryland; Biological and medical sciences; Central Cities; Child Abuse, Sexual - diagnosis; Child Abuse, Sexual - psychology; Child Abuse, Sexual - statistics & numerical data; Chronic Disease; Crime Victims - psychology; Crime Victims - statistics & numerical data; Female; Humans; Life Change Events; Male; measures; Medical sciences; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Mental Disorders - psychology; Mental Illness; Mental Patients; Pilot Projects; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Prevalence; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; schizophrenia; Self-Assessment; serious mental illness; Severity of Illness Index; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - epidemiology; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - etiology; Surveys and Questionnaires; trauma exposure; Victimization; Victimology; Victims; Violence; Violence - psychology; Violence - statistics & numerical data; Mood disorder; Human; Testimony; Statistical analysis; Posttraumatic syndrome; Prevalence; Methodology; Violence; Anxiety disorder; Schizophrenia; Bipolar disorder; Victimology; Stress; Psychosis; Symptomatology; Chronic; Sexual abuse; Clinical investigation; Severity score; Reliability; Severe
• ISSN: 0894-9867; 1573-6598
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1024708916143

Although violent victimization is highly prevalent among men and women with serious mental illness (SMI; e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder), future research in this area may be impeded by controversy concerning the ability of individuals with SMI to report traumatic events reliably. This article presents the results of a study exploring the temporal consistency of reports of childhood sexual abuse, adult sexual abuse, and adult physical abuse, as well as current symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among 50 people with SMI. Results show that trauma history and PTSD assessments can, for the most part, yield reliable information essential to further research in this area. The study also demonstrates the importance of using a variety of statistical methods to assess the reliability of self‐reports of trauma history.