Self-reported health profiles of trauma victims with and without psychiatric histories.

Background: This study examined associations between self-reported trauma exposure and physical health status after control of variance associated with psychiatric disturbance. Physical and mental health diagnoses were examined among participants with and without histories of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Participants and procedure: College (n = 2,320) and national (n = 663) respondents were surveyed to identify trauma histories defined using the primary DSM-5 diagnostic criterion for PTSD. Respondents also identified lifetime diagnoses for a range of medical and psychiatric conditions. They were also asked to provide a self-assessment of their own current physical health status using a ten-point scaling metric.

Results: Support was found for all three hypotheses: (H1) Self-identified trauma was associated with higher prevalence rates for 16 of 18 medical diagnoses; (H2) PTSD diagnoses were associated with higher prevalence rates than trauma alone for 6 of 16 medical conditions; and (H3) Self-reported trauma was associated with higher prevalence rates for 7 of 18 medical conditions among respondents who denied psychiatric histories.

Conclusions: Trauma exposure both with and without co-occurring psychiatric illness was associated with substantially higher rates of self-reported physical illness. Practitioners and researchers should recognize the potential significance of self-identified trauma and the range of potential biosocial implications that may warrant monitoring.