During the 19th century, a picture was painted of trauma in which the focus was on pathologies of the victims, including notions of inherited "moral degeneracy," with little cognizance of the greater contextual factors, such as the traumatic events themselves, that contributed to the symptom picture. The role of trauma in the etiology of posttraumatic symptoms was incorporated into the DSM-III in 1980 and the PTSD category was initially viewed as an improvement over earlier categorizations of trauma, as it acknowledged that some experiences are so overwhelming that few people would escape unscathed. However, recent findings that not all persons who have suffered traumatic events develop PTSD have led some writers to discussion of a genetic component to PTSD. This article looks at this conclusion and the role of individual and contextual factors in relation to PTSD, Complex PTSD, and revictimization.
American Psychiatric Association (1980). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third edition. Washington, DC: Author.
2.
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth edition. Washington, DC: Author.
3.
Binder, R.L., McNiel, D.E., & Goldstone, R.L. (1996). Is adaptive coping possible for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse? Psychiatric Services, 47(2), 186-188.
4.
Brett, E.A. (1996). The classification of posttraumatic stress disorder . In B.A. van der Kolk, A.C. McFarlane, and L.Weisaeth (Eds.) Traumatic stress. The effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society. pp. 117-128. New York: The Guilford Press.
5.
Briere, J. (1997, November). PTSD Lectures. Presentation at a Trauma Conference, Richmond BC, Canada.
6.
Briere, J. & Runtz, M. (1987), Post sexual abuse trauma: Data and implications for clinical practice. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2, 367-379.
7.
Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F.A., Lynch, M., & Hold, K.D. (1993). Resilience in maltreated children: Processes leading to adaptive outcome. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 629-647.
8.
Chu, James A. (1992). The revictimization of adult women with histories of childhood abuse. Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research, 1, 259-269.
9.
Cloitre, M. (1998). Sexual revictimization. Risk factors and prevention . In V. Follette, J.I. Ruzek, and F.R. Abueg (Eds.) Cognitive-behavioral therapies for trauma. NY: Guilford
10.
Cloitre, M., Scarvalone, P., & Difede, J. (1997). Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, self-and interpersonal dysfunction among sexually retraumatized women. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 10, 437-451.
11.
Coffey, P.Leitenberg, H., Henning, K., Turner, T., & Bennett, R.T. (1996). The relation between methods of coping during adulthood with a history of childhood sexual abuse and current psychological adjustment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 64, 1090-1093.
12.
deMause, L. (1991). The universality of incest. TheJournal of Psychohistory, 19(2), 123-164.
13.
de Mause, L. (1997). The psychogenic theory of history. TheJournal of Psychohistory, 25(2), 112-183.
14.
Dietrich, A.M., Haverkamp, B.E., Figley, C.R., & van der Kolk, B.A. (1999, November). PTSD, Complex PTSD, and revictimization in adults abused as children. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Miami Fl.
Fergusson, D.M., Horwood, L.J., & Lynskey, M.T. (1997). Childhood sexual abuse, adolescent sexual behaviors and sexual revictimization. Child Abuse and Neglect, 21, 789-803.
17.
Finkelhor, D. & Browne, A. (1985). The traumatic impact of child sexual abuse: A conceptualization. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 55, 530-541.
18.
Follette, V.M., Polusny, M.A., Bechtle, A.E., & Naugle, A.E. (1996). Cumulative trauma: The impact of child sexual abuse, adult sexual assault, and spouse abuse. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9, 25-35.
19.
Follette, V.M., Ruzek, J.I., & Abueg, F.R. (1998). A contextual analysis of trauma. Theoretical considerations . In V. Follette, J.I. Ruzek, and F.R. Abueg (Eds.) Cognitive-behavioral therapies for trauma. NY: Guilford
20.
Freud, S. (1896/1962). The aetiology of hysteria. In J. Strachey (Ed.) The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud. Vol III. London: Hogarth .
21.
Freud, S. (1920/1961). Beyond the pleasure principle . Translated and Edited by James Strachey.NY: WW Norton.
22.
Fryer, G.E. & Miyoshi, T.J. (1994). A survival analysis of the revictimization of children: The case of Colorado. Child Abuse and Neglect, 18, 1063-1071.
23.
Gorcey, M., Santiago, J.M. & McCall-Perez, F. (1996). Psychological consequences for women sexually abused in childhood. Social Psychiatry , 21, 129-133.
24.
Haggerty, R.J., & Sherrod, L.R. (1996). Preface toR.J. Haggerty, L.R. Sherrod, N. Garmezy, and M. Rutter (Eds.), Stress, risk, and resilience in children and adolescents. Processes, mechanisms and interventions. pp. xiii-xxi. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
25.
Herman, J.L. (1992). Trauma and Recovery. New York : Basic Books.
26.
Kahr, B. (1991). The sexual molestation of children: Historical perspectives. Journal of Psychohistory, 19(2), 191-214.
27.
Kemp, A., Rawlings, E.I., & Green, B.L. (1991). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in battered women: A shelter sample. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 4, 137-148.
28.
Koverola, C., Proulx, J., Battle, P. & Hanna, C. (1996). Family functioning as predictors of distress in revictimized sexual abuse survivors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 11, 263-280.
29.
Krafft-Ebing, von R. (1904/1992). Text-Book of Insanity. Translated by Charles Gilbert Chaddock. New York: The Classics of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Library; Gryphon Editions
30.
Krafft-Ebing, von R (1906/1924). Psychopathia Sexualis. Trans. F.J. Rebman. Revised edition. New York: Physicians and Surgeons Book Co.
31.
Lam, J.N., & Grossman, F.K. (1997). Resiliency and adult adaptation in women with and without self-reported histories of childhood sexual abuse . Journal of Traumatic Stress, 10 (2), 175-196.
Lazarus, R.S. (1993). Coping theory and research: Past, present, and future. Psychosomatic Medicine, 55, 234-247.
34.
Levy, M.S. (1998). A helpful way to conceptualize and understand reenactments. Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research , 7, 227-235.
35.
Marshall, R.D., Schneier, F.R.Lin, S., Simpson, H.B.Vermes, D., & Liebowitz, M. (2000). Childhood trauma and dissociative symptoms in Panic Disorder. Am JPsychiatry157, 451-453.
36.
Masson, J.M. (1984). The assault on truth: Freud's suppression of the seduction theory. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.
37.
Masson, J.M. (1986). A dark science: Women, sexuality and psychiatry in the nineteenth century. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
38.
Mayall, A., & Gold, S.R. (1995). Definitional issues and mediating variables in the sexual revictimization of women sexually abused as children. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 10, 26-42.
39.
McEwen, BS (2000). Allostasis and allostatic load: implications for neuropsychopharmacology. Neuropsychopharmacology, 22(2), 108-124
40.
Messman, T.L., & Long, P.J. (1996). Child sexual abuse and its relationship to revictimization in adult women: A review. Clinical Psychology Review, 16(5), 397-420.
41.
Morrow, S.L., & Smith, M.L. (1995). Constructions of survival and coping by women who have survived childhood sexual abuse. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 42, 24-33.
42.
O'Leary, V.E., & Ickovics, J.R. (1995). Resilience and thriving in response to challenge: An opportunity for a paradigm shift in women's health . Women's Health: Research on Gender, Behavior, and Policy , 1, 121-142.
43.
Neumann, D.A., Houskamp, B.M., Pollock, V.E., and Briere, J. (1996). The long-term sequelae of childhood sexual abuse in women: A meta-analytic review. Child Maltreatment, 1(1), 6-16.
44.
Pelcovitz, D., van der Kolk, B.A., Roth, S., Mandel, F., Kaplan, S., & Resick, P. (1996). Development of a criteria set and a structured interview for disorders of extreme stress (SIDES). Journal of Traumatic Stress, 10(1), 3-16.
45.
Putnam, F. (1997). Dissociation in children and adolescents. A developmental perspective. NY: Guilford
46.
Putnam, F. (2000, March). Developmental pathways following sexual abuse in girls. Presentation at the conference on Psychological Trauma: Maturational Processes and Therapeutic Interventions , Boston, MA.
47.
Pynoos, R.S., Steinberg, A.M., & Goenjian, A. (1996). Traumatic stress in childhood and adolescence. Recent developments and current controversies. In B.A. van der Kolk, A.C. McFarlane, and L. Weisaeth (Eds.), Traumatic stress. The effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society . Pp. 331-358. New York: The Guilford Press.
48.
Richters, J.E. (1997). The Hubble hypothesis and the developmentalist's dilemma. Development and Psychopathology, 9, 193-229.
49.
Rush, F.( 1980). The best kept secret: Sexual abuse of children. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
50.
Russell, D.E.H. (1984). Sexual exploitation: Rape, child sexual abuse, and workplace harassment (pp. 29-66). Newbury Park: Sage
51.
Schaaf, K.K., & McCanne, T.R. (1998). Relationship of childhood sexual, physical, and combined sexual and physical abuse to adult victimization and posttraumatic stress disorder. Child Abuse and Neglect, 22, 1119-1133.
52.
Selye, H. (1936). A syndrome produced by diverse nocuous agents . Nature, 138, 32.
53.
Selye, H. (1956). The stress of life. NY: McGraw-Hill
54.
Shalev, A. (1996). Stress versus Traumatic Stress. From acute homeostatic reactions to chronic psychopathology. In B.A. van der Kolk, A.C. McFarlane, and L. Weisaeth (Eds.) Traumatic stress. The effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society . pp 77-101. NY: Guilford Press.
55.
Spaccarelli, S. (1994). Stress, appraisal, and coping in child sexual abuse: A theoretical and empirical review. Psychological Bulletin,116, 340-362.
56.
Stevenson, M.R. and Gajarsky, W.M. (1992). Unwanted childhood sexual experiences relate to later revictimization and male perpetration. Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 4(4), 57-70
57.
Trickett, P.K., & Putnam, F.W. (1993). Impact of child sexual abuse on females: Toward a developmental, psychobiological integration. Psychological Science, 4, 81-87.
58.
Trimble, M.R. (1981). Post-traumatic neurosis: >From railway spine to the whiplash. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons .
59.
True, W.R., Rice, J., Eisen, S.A., Heath, A.C., Goldberg, J., Lyons, M.J. & Nowak, J. (1993). A twin study of genetic and environmental contributions to liability for Posttraumatic Stress symptoms. Arch Gen Psychiatry , 50, 257-264.
60.
Tsai, M., Feldman-Summers, S., & Edgar, M. (1979). Childhood molestation: Variables related to differential impacts on psychosexual functioning in adult women. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88, 407-417.
61.
van der Kolk, BA (2000, March). Psychological Trauma: Maturational processes and therapeutic interventions conference, Boston, MA.
62.
van der Kolk, B.A. (1996). The complexity of adaptation to trauma: Self-regulation, stimulus discrimination, and characterological development. In B.A. van der Kolk, A.C. McFarlane , and L. Weisaeth (Eds.) Traumatic stress. The effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society. pp 182-213. NY: Guilford Press .
63.
van der Kolk, B.A., McFarlane, A.C., and Weisaeth, L. (Eds.) (1996), Traumatic stress. The effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society. pp. 3-23. New York: The Guilford Press.
64.
van der Kolk, BA, Pelcovitz, D., Roth, S., Mandel, F.S., McFarlane, A., & Herman, J.L. (1996). Dissociation, somatization, and affect dysregulation: The complexity of adaptation to trauma. American Journal of Psychiatry,153(7), 83-93.
65.
van der Kolk, BA, van der Hart, O., & Marmar, CR (1996). Dissociation and information processing in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. In B.A. van der Kolk, A.C. McFarlane, and L. Weisaeth (Eds.) Traumatic stress. The effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society. Pp. 303-327). NY: Guilford Press
66.
van der Kolk, B.A., Weisaeth, L., & van der Hart, O. (1996). History of trauma in psychiatry. In B.A. van der Kolk, A.C. McFarlane, and L. Weisaeth (Eds.) Traumatic stress. The effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society. NY: Guilford Press.
67.
Veith, I. (1965). Hysteria: The history of a disease. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
68.
Wooley, S.C. (1996). Recognition of sexual abuse: Progress and backlash . In M.F. Schwartz and L. Cohn (Eds.) Sexual Abuse and Eating Disorders. NY: Brunner/Mazel.
69.
Wyatt, G.E., Guthrie, D., & Notgrass, C.M. (1992). Differential effects of women's child sexual abuse and subsequent sexual victimization. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 167
70.
Wyatt, G.E., & Newcomb, M. (1990). Internal and external mediators of women's sexual abuse in childhood. Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology , 58, 758-767.
71.
Yehuda, R., & McFarlane, AC (1995). Conflict between current knowledge about Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and its original conceptual basis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152(12), 1705-1713. Also available online at http://www.trauma-pages.com/articles.htm
72.
Zeitlin, S.B., McNally, R.J., & Cassiday, K.L. (1993). Alexithymia in victims of sexual assault: An effect of repeated Traumatization?American Journal of Psychiatry,150(4), 661-663.
