Differential predictors of DSM-5 PTSD and ICD-11 complex PTSD among African American women

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive details of trauma variables, psychiatric diagnoses, and symptoms in overall sample.

Psychiatric diagnoses and symptoms	N	%
Moderate-to-severe exposure to abuse	86	45.0
DSM-5 PTSD	72	38.1
ICD-11 CPTSD^a	33	17.4
	Mean (SD)	Range
Child abuse severity (CTQ)	43.04 (19.56)	25–108
Lifetime trauma load (TEI; excluding child abuse)	4.37 (2.74)	0–12
PTSD symptom severity (mPSS)	15.44 (12.39)	0–47
Depression symptom severity (BDI)	16.14 (12.04)	0–65
Total emotion dysregulation symptoms (DERS)	70.63 (23.10)	36–141
Non-acceptance	10.92 (5.09)
Difficulty with goal-directed behaviour	11.37 (5.04)
Difficulty controlling impulses	11.15 (5.24)
Lack of emotional awareness	12.90 (4.94)
Difficulty with emotion regulation strategies	14.66 (5.96)
Lack of emotional clarity	9.63 (4.00)
Total dissociative symptoms (MDI)	48.58 (18.30)	30–110
Disengagement	10.28 (4.47)
Depersonalization	6.63 (2.86)
Derealization	8.17 (3.68)
Emotional constriction	9.09 (4.39)
Memory disturbance	8.14 (3.46)
Identity dissociation	6.27 (2.97)

CTQ = childhood trauma questionnaire; TEI = traumatic events inventory; mPSS = modified PTSD symptom scale; BDI = Beck Depression Inventory; DERS = difficulties in emotion regulation scale; MDI = multiscale dissociative index; ^aall individuals that met criteria for CPTSD also met criteria for DSM-5 PTSD.

Table 2. Psychiatric descriptive details compared across groups.

	Traumatized control	DSM-5 PTSD	ICD-11 CPTSD
	n = 118	n = 39	n = 33
	N (%)	N (%)	N (%)	Overall p-value
Current major depression	12 (10.16)	11 (28.2)^a	22 (66.67)^bc	p < .001***
Lifetime major depression	47 (39.83)	29 (74.36)^a	28 (84.85)^b	p < .001***
Current alcohol abuse or dependence	6 (5.01)	5 (12.82)	6 (18.18)^b	.04*
Lifetime alcohol abuse or dependence	23 (19.49)	12 (30.77)	16 (48.48)^b	.002**
Current substance abuse or dependence	7 (5.93)	2 (5.13)	9 (27.27)^bc	< .001***
Lifetime substance abuse or dependence	26 (22.03)	18 (46.15)^a	18 (54.55)^b	< .001***

Differences in rates of psychiatric disorders between individuals in the three groups were assessed using chi-square tests of independence. Significant differences are depicted with asterisks: *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001. For differences across groups: ^adenotes significant difference (p < .05) between traumatized control and PTSD only groups; ^bdenotes significant difference between traumatized control and CPTSD groups; ^cdenotes significant difference between PTSD and CPTSD groups.

Table 3. Multivariate analysis of variance predicting psychiatric symptoms and outcomes by group (traumatized control, DSM-5 PTSD, and ICD-11 CPTSD).

	Traumatized control	DSM-5 PTSD	ICD-11 CPTSD
	n = 118	n = 39	n = 33
	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	F	Partial Eta Squared
Total child abuse severity (CTQ)	38.11 (17.41)	46.86 (20.00)^a	56.12 (19.84)^bc	13.42***	0.13
Number of abuse types experienced (CTQ)	0. 58 (0.98)	1.05 (1.10)^a	1.61 (1.14)^bc	13.41***	0.13
Overall trauma load (excluding child abuse, TEI)	3.60 (2.52)	5.35 (2.97)^a	5.97 2.19)^b	14.55***	0.14
Current depressive symptoms (BDI)	11.65 (10.17)	18.52 (8.57)^a	29.35 (11.38)^bc	41.07***	0.31
Current PTSD symptoms (mPSS)	9.63 (8.88)	20.97 (10.12)^a	29.67 (11.24)^bc	64.56***	0.41
Emotion dysregulation symptoms (DERS)	62.31 (19.63)	76.96 (21.35)^a	92.89 (19.65)^bc	32.63***	0.26
Non-acceptance of emotion (DERS)	9.52 (4.10)	12.10 (4.93)^a	14.52 (6.38) ^bc	15.92***	0.15
Difficulty with goal-directed behaviour (DERS)	9.63 (4.36)	12.51 (4.29)^a	16.27 (5.16)^bc	31.27***	0.25
Difficulty managing impulses (DERS)	9.63 (4.18)	12.51 (4.29)^a	15.33 (5.83)^bc	19.55***	0.17
Lack of awareness of emotions (DERS)	12.25 (4.49)	13.46 (4.98)	14.53 (6.02)^b	3.12*	0.03
Difficulty with regulation strategies (DERS)	12.65 (4.89)	16.41 (5.92)^a	19.80 (5.93)^bc	26.07***	0.22
Lack of clarity of emotions (DERS)	8.63 (3.58)	10.26 (4.00)^a	12.45 (4.02)^bc	14.16***	0.13
Dissociation symptoms (MDI)	41.41 (12.52)	50.90 (14.74)^a	71.50 (20.25)^bc	55.64***	0.37
Disengagement (MDI)	8.75 (3.53)	10.62 (4.06)^a	15.36 (4.21)^bc	39.96***	0.30
Depersonalization (MDI)	5.70 (1.53)	6.59 (2.67)^a	10.00 (4.05)^bc	41.61***	0.31
Derealization (MDI)	6.72 (2.44)	9.13 (3.30)^a	12.21 (4. 44)^bc	44.23***	0.32
Emotional constriction (MDI)	7.58 (3.47)	9.85 (3.67)^a	13.58 (4.884)^bc	33.31***	0.26
Memory disturbance (MDI)	7.10 (2.87)	8.59 (2.92)^a	11.31 (4.00)^bc	24.23***	0.21
Identity dissociation (MDI)	5.55 (1.95)	6.13 (1.82)	9.03 (4.95)^bc	21.66***	0.19

*p < .05, ***p < .001.

Posthoc analyses were computed using LSD: ^adenotes significant difference (p < .05) between traumatized and PTSD groups; ^bdenotes significant difference between traumatized control and CPTSD groups; ^cdenotes significant difference between PTSD and CPTSD groups.

Figure 1. Percentage of number of types of exposure to moderate-to-severe childhood emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse by group type.