At the crossroads: The structure of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after DSM-5 and before ICD-11

Abstract

In the nearly 100 years since identification of the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in soldiers and civilian accidents’ victims until nowadays (when the most recent diagnostic criteria for DSM-5 and ICD-11 are prepared) understanding of the disorder and its core features have changed, both as the structure of symptoms and general location among other psychiatric disorders (within anxiety disorders group or outside). The paper presents the development of methods for classifying the symptoms of PTSD, with special emphasis on research on the factor structure of PTSD symptoms according to DSM-IV-TR. The results of our own research on the structure of symptoms in a group of 526 participants in road accidents are in favor of proposals for ICD-11, rather than the DSM-5, they permit the isolation of core symptoms of PTSD underlining the ”anxiety” nature of the disorder.