Recent Developments in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

The traumatic stress field has expanded dramatically over the last 10 years. This paper provides a review of progress in three areas from the domain of posttraumatic stress responses. First, recent developments in diagnosis are discussed, with particular reference to the proposed diagnostic criteria for DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition; American Psychiatric Association, in press). Second, a theoretical formulation based on cognitive processing principles is presented and, where available, empirical support for such a conceptualisation is provided. Third, the implications of a cognitive processing paradigm for treatment are discussed briefly, with ref..