Abstract
Research investigating trauma's ensuing psychological sequels has flourished in recent years. Unfortunately, no direct research has focused on disentangling the relative severity of PTSD symptoms across divergent types of traumatic experiences. The present study was undertaken for such a purpose. As part of a larger study investigating the impact of trauma on eyewitness memory, 36 prostitutes were interviewed regarding past autobiographical traumatic experiences (both sexual and non-sexual traumas). The participants' self-reported PTSD symptoms for each type of trauma were elicited and compared indicating significantly higher total, avoidance, and intrusion symptoms for sexual traumas than for non-sexual traumas. Implications for the assessment and treatment of trauma victims are discussed.