Applicability of the post-traumatic stress disorder gate criterion in people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities: Do additional adverse events impact current symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in people with intellectual disabilities?
Doris Rittmannsberger, Germain Weber, Brigitte Lueger-Schuster
PMID 32316075WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers reported that non-traumatic adverse life events added to PTSD symptoms in people with intellectual disabilities, but self-reports did not.
The two groups disagreed on which events mattered most, so clinical assessment must include both perspectives rather than relying on one.
Key findings
01Informant data showed that adverse life events, such as changes in caregivers, had a significant additional impact on PTSD symptom frequency and severity over and above traumatic events.
02Self-report data did not show an additional impact of adverse life events on PTSD symptoms once traumatic events were accounted for.
03Self-reports and informant reports identified different specific events as significant predictors, with self-reports highlighting physical violence and informant reports highlighting witnessing of violence.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small (49 participants), and recruitment involved pre-selection by caregivers, which may bias the sample toward those who are more communicative or have specific behavioral profiles. The self-report and informant measures used different tools to assess life events, which may explain some of the discrepancy in findings. The study relied on retrospective reporting of life events, which is susceptible to memory bias. Some assessment scales were adapted for the study and not validated in German, potentially affecting reliability.
Declared interests
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that adverse life events are irrelevant to PTSD in this population. The null finding in self-reports may reflect the difficulty of verbalizing internal symptoms or the specific wording of the tools, as informant data clearly showed an impact. The discrepancy highlights a measurement issue, not necessarily a clinical one.