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Posttraumatic stress disorder associated with unexpected death of a loved one: Cross-
national findings from the World Mental Health Surveys
Short title: PTSD and unexpected death of a loved one
Keywords: PTSD/Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, epidemiology, life events/stress, trauma,
crossnational, international
Lukoye Atwoli1,2, Dan J. Stein2, Andrew King3, Maria Petukhova3, Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola4,
Jordi Alonso5, Evelyn J. Bromet6, Giovanni de Girolamo7, Koen Demyttenaere8, Silvia Florescu9,
Josep Maria Haro10, Elie G. Karam11, Norito Kawakami12, Sing Lee13, Jean-Pierre Lepine14,
Fernando Navarro-Mateu15, Siobhan O’Neill16, Beth-Ellen Pennell17, Marina Piazza18, Jose
Posada-Villa19, Nancy A. Sampson3, Margreet ten Have20, Alan M. Zaslavsky3, Ronald C.
Kessler3, on behalf of the WHO World Mental Health Survey Collaborators
1Department of Mental Health, Moi University School of Medicine, Eldoret, Kenya
2Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Republic
of South Africa
3Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
4Center for Reducing Health Disparities, UC Davis Health System, Sacramento, California, USA
5IMIM-Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Parc de Salut Mar; Pompeu Fabra University (UPF);
and CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain
6Department of Psychiatry, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, New
York, USA
Atwoli 1
7IRCCS St John of God Clinical Research Centre // IRCCS Centro S. Giovanni di Dio
Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy
8Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,
Leuven, Belgium
9National School of Public Health, Management and Professional Development, Bucharest,
Romania
10Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, CIBERSAM, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
11Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Balamand University;
Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, St George Hospital University Medical
Center; and Institute for Development Research Advocacy and Applied Care (IDRAAC), Beirut,
Lebanon
12Department of Mental Health, School of Public Health, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
13Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong
14Hôpital Lariboisière Fernand Widal, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris INSERM UMR-S
1144, University Paris Descartes – Paris Diderot, France
15IMIB-Arrixaca, CIBERESP-Murcia, Subdirección General de Salud Mental y Asistencia
Psiquiátrica, Servicio Murciano de Salud, El Palmar (Murcia), Murcia, Spain
16School of Psychology, University of Ulster, Londonderry, United Kingdom
17Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
Michigan, USA
18Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia; and National Institute of Health, Lima, Peru
19Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca University, Bogota, Colombia
20Trimbos-Instituut, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, Netherlands
Atwoli 2
Corresponding author: Lukoye Atwoli, Department of Mental Health, Moi University School
of Medicine, PO Box 4606, Eldoret 30100, Kenya; Tel: +254 53 2060958/9 Ext 3230; Fax: +254
53 206 1749; [email protected]
Conflict of interest disclosures:
Dr. Stein has received research grants and/or consultancy honoraria from Abbott, AstraZeneca,
Eli-Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, Lundbeck, Orion, Pfizer,
Pharmacia, Roche, Servier, Solvay, Sumitomo, Sun, Takeda, Tikvah, and Wyeth. Dr.
Demyttenaere has served as a consultant with Servier, Lundbeck, Lundbeck Institute,
AstraZeneca and Naurex. In the past three years, Dr. Kessler received support for his
epidemiological studies from Sanofi Aventis, was a consultant for Johnson & Johnson Wellness
and Prevention, and served on an advisory board for the Johnson & Johnson Services Inc. Lake
Nona Life Project. Dr. Kessler is a co-owner of DataStat, Inc., a market research firm that carries
out healthcare research. The other authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential
conflicts of interest relevant to this manuscript.
Atwoli 3
ABSTRACT
Background: Unexpected death of a loved one (UD) is the most commonly reported traumatic
experience in cross-national surveys. However, much remains to be learned about PTSD after
this experience. The WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative provides a unique
opportunity to address these issues.
Methods: Data from 19 WMH surveys (n=78,023; 70.1% weighted response rate) were collated.
Potential predictors of PTSD (respondent socio-demographics, characteristics of the death,
history of prior trauma exposure, history of prior mental disorders) after a representative sample
of UDs were examined using logistic regression. Simulation was used to estimate overall model
strength in targeting individuals at highest PTSD risk.
Results: PTSD prevalence after UD averaged 5.2% across surveys and did not differ
significantly between high and low-middle income countries. Significant multivariate predictors
included: the deceased being a spouse or child; the respondent being female and believing they
could have done something to prevent the death; prior trauma exposure; and history of prior
mental disorders. The final model was strongly predictive of PTSD, with the 5% of respondents
having highest estimated risk including 30.6% of all cases of PTSD. Positive predictive value
(i.e., the proportion of high-risk individuals who actually developed PTSD) among the 5% of
respondents with highest predicted risk was 25.3%.
Conclusions: The high prevalence and meaningful risk of PTSD make UD a major public health
issue. This study provides novel insights into predictors of PTSD after this experience and
suggests that screening assessments might be useful in identifying high-risk individuals for
preventive interventions.
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INTRODUCTION
Unexpected death of a loved one (UD) is the most commonly reported traumatic
experience in community epidemiological surveys across the world (Benjet et al., 2016). It is
also one of the traumatic experiences associated with the highest number of cases of post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in country-specific community surveys (Atwoli et al., 2013;
Breslau et al., 1998; Carmassi et al., 2014; Olaya et al., 2014) and is also associated with
significantly elevated risk of first onset of other mental disorders (Keyes et al., 2014). Awareness
that PTSD occurs in the wake of unexpected death is relatively recent (Zisook, Chentsova-
Dutton, & Shuchter, 1998), though, and raises questions about the prevalence and correlates of
PTSD associated with this experience. Few community epidemiological surveys have
specifically addressed these questions. The WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys
(Kessler & Ustun, 2008) provide a unique opportunity to do so by assessing prevalence and
predictors of UD-related PTSD in general population samples across the globe. Here we focus on
prevalence and predictors of UD-related DSM-IV PTSD. The predictors considered are those
found to be significant in previous studies of more general PTSD (DiGangi et al., 2013; Ferry et
al., 2014) as well as those significant in previous studies of bereavement and complicated grief
(Kristensen et al., 2012; Lobb et al., 2010), including respondent socio-demographics,
characteristics of the death, respondent childhood adversities, history of prior traumatic
experiences, and history of prior psychopathology.
Consistent with previous community epidemiological surveys of PTSD, WMH
respondents were asked to complete a checklist of lifetime exposures to a wide variety of
traumatic experiences (TEs). Given that some people are exposed to a large number of different
TEs in their lifetime, it is impossible to assess PTSD separately for each of these occurrences.
Atwoli 5
The standard approach to this problem is to ask each respondent to select the one or two lifetime
TE occurrences they consider to be their “worst” (or the ones associated with the most
psychological distress) and to assess PTSD after those events (Breslau et al., 1998). But that
approach leads to upwardly-biased estimates of conditional PTSD risk after TE exposure
(Atwoli, Stein, Koenen, & McLaughlin, 2015). WMH addressed this problem by using
probability sampling methods to select one lifetime occurrence of one TE for each respondent as
that respondent’s “random TE,” obtaining information about the circumstances around that
occurrence that could influence PTSD risk, and then retrospectively assessing symptoms of
PTSD after that occurrence. We focus here on the random TEs involving unexpected death of a
loved one and their associated UD-related PTSD.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Samples
The WMH surveys are a coordinated set of community epidemiological surveys of the
prevalence and correlates of common mental disorders carried out in nationally or regionally
representative household samples in countries throughout the world (Kessler & Ustun, 2008).
The data reported here come from the subset of 19 WMH surveys that used an expanded PTSD
assessment to determine PTSD prevalence associated with random TEs as defined above. (Table
1) These surveys included 10 in countries classified by the World Bank (World Bank) as high
income countries and 9 in countries classified as low or middle income countries. Each survey
was based on a probability sample of household residents in the target population using a multi-
stage clustered area probability sample design. Total sample size across surveys was 78,023,
although we focus here on the 2,813 respondents with UD selected as their random TEs. A more
Atwoli 6
complete description of WMH sampling procedures is available elsewhere (Heeringa et al.,
2008).
(Table 1 about here)
Field procedures
After obtaining informed consent, interviews were administered face-to-face in
respondent homes in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki and with approval from local
IRBs. The interview schedule was developed in English and translated into other languages using
a standardized WHO protocol (Harkness et al., 2008). Bilingual survey supervisors in
participating countries were trained and supervised by centralized WMH field staff and
interviewers were monitored using procedures described elsewhere (Pennell et al., 2008) to
guarantee cross-national consistency in data quality.
Measures
Traumatic experiences: Respondents were asked about lifetime exposure to each of 27
different types of traumatic experiences (TEs) and 2 open-ended questions about exposure to
“any other” TE and to a private TE the respondent did not want to name. Positive responses
were probed for number of lifetime occurrences of each TE type and age at exposure to the first
occurrence of each TE type. In the case of the random TEs, we also included questions about age
of exposure and the context surrounding the TE (see below for UD). As noted above, the random
TE for each respondent was selected using a probability sampling scheme from the full list of all
lifetime TE types and occurrences reported by the respondent.
Unexpected death of a loved one (UD): Reports of unexpected deaths were elicited by
asking “Did someone very close to you ever die unexpectedly; for example, they were killed in
an auto accident, murdered, committed suicide, or had a fatal heart attack at an early age?” In
Atwoli 7
cases where a UD was the random TE, the respondent’s age at the time of the UD was recorded
along with responses to five questions about the experience: the respondent’s relationship to the
deceased (spouse, parent, child, sibling, other relative, or nonrelative); the cause of death
(homicide, suicide, accident/medical error, or illness); length of illness if the death was due to
illness; the age of the deceased at the time of death; and the respondent’s perception of whether
they could have prevented the death assessed as a yes-no answer to the question: “Looking back
on it now, is there any way you could have prevented the death from happening?”
PTSD: DSM-IV mental disorders were assessed with the Composite International
Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) (Kessler & Ustun, 2004). As detailed elsewhere (Haro et al., 2006),
blinded clinical reappraisal interviews with the Structured Clinical Interview
for DSM-IV (SCID) found CIDI-SCID concordance for PTSD to be moderate (AUC=.69)
(Landis & Koch, 1977). Sensitivity and specificity were .38 and .99, respectively, resulting in a
likelihood ratio positive (LR+) of 42.0, which is well above the threshold of 10 typically used to
consider a screening scale diagnosis definitive (Gardner & Altman, 2000). Consistent with the
high LR+, the proportion of CIDI cases confirmed by the SCID was 86.1%, suggesting that the
vast majority of CIDI/DSM-IV PTSD cases would independently be judged to have DSM-IV
PTSD by a trained clinician.
Other mental disorders: The CIDI also assessed 14 prior (to respondent’s age of
exposure to the random TE) lifetime DSM-IV mental disorders. These included mood disorders,
anxiety disorders, disruptive behavior disorders, and substance disorders. Age-of-onset (AOO) of
each disorder was assessed using special probing techniques shown experimentally to improve
recall accuracy (Knäuper, Cannell, Schwarz, Bruce, & Kessler, 1999). This allowed us to
determine based on retrospective AOO reports whether each respondent had a history of each
Atwoli 8
disorder prior to the age of occurrence of the random TE. DSM-IV organic exclusion rules and
diagnostic hierarchy rules were used (other than for oppositional defiant disorder, which was
defined with or without conduct disorder, and substance abuse, which was defined with or
without dependence). Agoraphobia was combined with panic disorder because of low
prevalence. Dysthymic disorder was combined with major depressive disorder for the same
reason.
Other PTSD predictors: We examined six classes of predictors. The first two were
described above: characteristics of the death and the respondent’s history of prior mental
disorders. The third class was socio-demographics: age, education, and marital status (each as of
the time of the death), and sex. Age was coded in quartiles. Given the wide variation in education
levels across countries, education was classified as low, low-average, high-average, or high
(coded as a continuous 1-4 score) according to within-country norms (Scott et al., 2014). The
next three classes of predictors assessed the respondent’s history of exposure to stressful
experiences prior to the random UD: previous experience of UD; exposure to each of the other
28 lifetime TEs; and exposure to each of 12 childhood family adversities (CAs). Consistent with
prior WMH research on CAs (Kessler et al., 2010), we distinguished between CAs in a highly-
correlated set of seven that we labeled Maladaptive Family Functioning CAs (parental mental
disorder, parental substance abuse, parental criminality, family violence, physical abuse, sexual
abuse, neglect) and other CAs (parental divorce, parental death, other parental loss, serious
physical illness, family economic adversity).
Analysis Methods
In addition to the sample weight, each respondent reporting a TE was weighted by the
inverse of the probability of selection of the random TE occurrence. For example, a respondent
Atwoli 9
who reported three TE types and two occurrences of the randomly-selected type would receive a
TE weight of 6.0 for the selected random TE. The product of the sample weight with the TE
weight was used in analyses of the random TEs, yielding a sample that is representative of all
lifetime TEs occurring to all respondents. The sum of the consolidated weights across
respondents with a randomly selected UD was standardized in each survey for purposes of
pooled cross-national analysis to equal the observed number of respondents with this TE in the
sample.
Prevalence of PTSD associated with randomly selected UDs was estimated using cross-
tabulations. Logistic regression was then used to examine predictors of PTSD pooled across
surveys. Predictors were entered in blocks, beginning with socio-demographics, followed
sequentially by characteristics of the death, prior TE and CA exposure, and prior mental
disorders. All models included dummy control variables for surveys, meaning that the reported
coefficients represent pooled within-survey coefficients. Logistic regression coefficients and
standard errors were exponentiated and are reported as odds-ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence
intervals (CIs), with statistical significance evaluated using .05-level two-sided tests.
The design-based Taylor series method (Wolter, 1985) implemented in the SAS software
system (SAS Institute Inc., 2008) was used to adjust for the weighting and clustering of
observations. Design-based F tests were used to evaluate significance of each block of predictor,
with numerator degrees of freedom equal to number of predictors and denominator degrees of
freedom equal to number of geographically-clustered sampling error calculation units containing
random UDs across surveys (n=1,062) minus the sum of primary sample units from which these
sampling error calculation units were selected (n=569) and one less than the number of variables
Atwoli 10
in the predictor set (Reed III, 2007), resulting in 493 denominator degrees of freedom in
evaluating bivariate associations and fewer in evaluating multivariate associations.
Once the final model was estimated, a predicted probability of PTSD was generated for
each respondent from model coefficients. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was
then calculated from this summary predicted probability (Zou, O'Malley, & Mauri, 2007). Area
under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated to quantify overall prediction accuracy of the model
(Hanley & McNeil, 1983). We also evaluated concentration of risk of PTSD among the 5% of
respondents with highest predicted risk of PTSD based on the final model, which we defined as
the proportion of all observed cases of PTSD that was found among this 5% of respondents. This
was done to determine how well subsequent PTSD could have been predicted in the immediate
aftermath of the death using our model. We also calculated positive predictive value, the
proportion of the 5% of respondents with highest predicted risk that actually developed PTSD.
Given that a number of different predictors were examined, the possibility of false
positives and over-fitting was taken into consideration in two ways. First, as noted above, we
evaluated simultaneous significance of predictor blocks and interpreted individually significant
coefficients only when the overall block was significant. Second, we used the method of
replicated 10-fold cross-validation with 20 replicates (i.e., 200 separate estimates of model
coefficients) to correct for the over-estimation of overall model prediction accuracy when
estimating AUC, concentration of risk, and positive predictive value (Smith, Seaman, Wood,
Royston, & White, 2014).
RESULTS
Prevalence of UD and association with PTSD
Atwoli 11
Prevalence of UD was 30.2% (2,813 respondents) across surveys (Interquartile range,
IQR, 24.4-33.0%), with an average 1.6 lifetime occurrences per respondent with any and
representing 16.4% of all TEs in the population (IQR 15.3-17.5% across surveys). (Detailed
results are available upon request.) PTSD prevalence associated with random UDs averaged
5.2% across surveys and was comparable in high versus low/middle income countries (4.8%
versus 5.9%; 21=0.6, p=.45). (Table 1) However, prevalence differed significantly across all
surveys (218=35.4, p=.010) and among surveys in high income countries (2
9=19.0, p=.030) but
not among surveys in low/middle income countries (28=15.3, p=.06).
(Table 1 about here)
Predictors of PTSD associated with UD
Respondents who were in the oldest age quartile (35+) at the time they experienced the
UD had significantly elevated univariate PTSD odds compared to those in the youngest quartile
(ages 1-17) (OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.1-5.9). (Table 2) PTSD was also significantly more common
among women than men (OR 3.0; 95% CI 1.5-6.0) and among the currently (at the time of the
death) married (OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.3-3.6) and previously married (OR 3.2; 95% CI 1.3-7.7) than
the never married in univariate models, but was not significantly associated with respondent
education.
Model 1: However, sex was the only socio-demographic that remained significant in a
multivariate model that included all the socio-demographics (Table 2, Model 1). We
subsequently elaborated that model to include a methodological control for number of years
between respondent age at the time of unexpected death and age at interview to investigate the
possibility of time-related recall bias, but that association was non-significant (OR 1.1; 95% CI
0.9-1.3).
Atwoli 12
Model 2: The respondent’s relationship to the deceased was a significant predictor of
PTSD (F4,490=12.6, p<.001) in the model that added characteristics of the death to the socio-
demographic predictors (Table 2, Model 2), with highest odds of PTSD associated with death of
the respondent’s spouse (OR 9.6; 95% CI 4.1-22.3) or son or daughter (OR 8.7; 95% CI 4.2-
18.0) followed by death of any other child (OR 4.2; 95% CI 1.7-10.2) and of the respondent’s
parent (OR 2.2; 95% CI 1.1-4.4) compared to others. Cause of death was not a significant
predictor (F3,491=0.8, p=.49). The respondent’s perception that he/she could have done something
to prevent the death was also a significant predictor (OR 2.8; 95% CI 1.2-6.6).
(Table 2 about here)
Model 3: Preliminary analysis found that prior lifetime exposure to TEs predicted PTSD
significantly, but that this association was mainly due to TEs involving interpersonal violence or
man-made disasters (detailed results are available on request), which were found to be
significantly inter-correlated in an exploratory factor analysis reported elsewhere (Benjet et al.,
2016). Multivariate analysis showed that those reporting these TEs had significantly increased
odds of PTSD after the UD (OR 2.6; 95% CI 1.2-5.9 per TE in the range 0-3). (Table 2, Model
3) Preliminary analysis also showed that Maladaptive Family Functioning CAs predicted PTSD
related to unexpected death (detailed results are available on request), while further analysis
showed that these gross associations were due to three particular CAs --parental mental illness,
parental alcohol abuse, sexual abuse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 1.7-4.8 per TE in the range 0-2). The
respondent’s perception that he/she could have done something to prevent the death was non-
significant in Model 3.
Model 4: Preliminary analysis showed that each of the 14 temporally primary lifetime
DSM-IV/CIDI disorders assessed in the surveys had an elevated OR (10 of them significant at
Atwoli 13
the .05 level) when considered one at a time, but that few remained significant in a multivariate
model due to high comorbidity among the disorders. Further analysis (Table 2, Model 4) then
showed that the most parsimonious characterization of these joint associations was provided by a
composite variable that summed the number of anxiety disorders (0-3+), ADHD, and number of
substance disorders (0-2) (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.5-2.3 per disorder in the range 0-8).
Strength and consistency of overall model predictions
Estimated AUC based on 20 replicates of 10-fold cross-validated predictions (as
described in the Methods) was .80 in the total sample and .74-.86 in subsamples defined by
respondent sex, age, and education. (Figure 1) The 5% of respondents with highest predicted risk
included 30.6% of all cases of UD-related PTSD. This is six times the proportion expected by
chance. (Table 3) Subgroup values of this concentration of risk ranged from 36.8% among those
with high/high-average education to 14.7% among men. Positive predictive value among the 5%
of respondents with highest predicted risk was 25.3% in the total sample and ranged from 36.6%
among respondents from low or middle income countries to 18.2% among respondents from high
income countries.
(Figure 1 and Table 3 about here)
DISCUSSION
The study has a number of limitations. First, although prospective evidence suggests that
retrospective reports of TEs are valid (Dohrenwend et al., 2006), respondents with PTSD may
have been biased towards higher recall of prior lifetime TE exposures or mental disorders
(Roemer, Litz, Orsillo, Ehlich, & Friedman, 1998; Zoellner, Foa, Brigidi, & Przeworski, 2000).
Second, PTSD might have led to respondent perceptions that they could have done something to
prevent the death, inducing the significant positive association between that “predictor” and
Atwoli 14
PTSD. Third, diagnoses were based on a fully structured lay-administered interview rather than a
semi-structured clinical interview. While the WMH clinical appraisal data are reassuring (Haro
et al., 2006), only a small number of countries carried out clinical reappraisal studies, potentially
limiting generalizability. Fourth, although the combined sample size of the WMH surveys is
large, the number of respondents selected for in-depth UD assessment was relatively small,
reducing statistical power to carry out subtle analyses. In particular, with only 252 respondents
meeting criteria for PTSD and 20 predictors, the resulting 12.6 events-per-variable (EPV) ratio,
well above the 10.0 EPV recommended to avoid biased OR estimates in an additive model
(Peduzzi, Concato, Kemper, Holford, & Feinstein, 1996), did not allow us to consider
interactions of trauma characteristics with pre-existing vulnerabilities or other interactions. Fifth,
the WMH interview schedule was developed before DSM-5 criteria for persistent complex
bereavement disorder (PCBD; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) were codified. As a
result, no information was obtained in the surveys on PCBD or other complicated grief
syndromes (Cozza et al., 2016), making it impossible for us to evaluate the extent to which our
results would be changed if they were adjusted for comorbidity or confounding of our PTSD
diagnoses with these syndromes (Maercker & Znoj, 2010).
Despite these limitations, the present study makes several significant contributions to
knowledge on the sequelae of UD. First, no previous cross-national study has reported on the
prevalence of PTSD after UD. We found this to average 5.2%, which is somewhat higher than
the 4.0% mean prevalence for any randomly selected TE across the WMH surveys (Kessler et
al., 2014), although the prevalence of UD-related PTSD varied widely across surveys. It is
unclear why this variation exists, but the higher mean prevalence than for other TEs emphasizes
the public health importance of UD-related PTSD (Atwoli et al., 2013; Breslau et al., 1998;
Atwoli 15
Carmassi et al., 2014; Ferry et al., 2014; Kawakami, Tsuchiya, Umeda, Koenen, & Kessler,
2014; Keyes et al., 2014; Olaya et al., 2014).
Second, we found a number of significant predictors of UD-related PTSD. While the
literature on predictors of UD-related PTSD is sparse, our results are consistent with evidence
about the predictors of PTSD after other types of TEs (Brewin, Andrews, & Valentine, 2000;
DiGangi et al., 2013; Ferry et al., 2014; Ozer, Best, Lipsey, & Weiss, 2003), and the findings
about relationship with the deceased, earlier lifetime traumatic events, and history of mental
disorders are consistent with prior studies of complicated grief, including work on bereavement
symptoms after loss of a spouse or child (Kristensen et al., 2012; Lobb et al., 2010). Overlap of
predictors of UD-related PTSD with the predictors found in studies of complicated grief
highlights important commonalities, supports inclusion in the same chapter of the psychiatric
nosology (Maercker & Znoj, 2010), but again raises concerns about our lack of knowledge about
how our results would have changed if data had been available in the WMH surveys to
distinguish UD-related PTSD from PCBD.
Third, the lack of association between cause of death and PTSD is relevant to a key
debate about the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for PTSD. While DSM-IV (American Psychiatric
Association, 2000) permitted unexpected death to qualify as a potentially traumatic event for
PTSD, DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) developed a more stringent threshold
for criterion A1, requiring that in cases of actual or threatened death of a family member or
friend, the event(s) must have been directly witnessed, violent, or accidental. The WMH
interview did not enquire about the respondent witnessing the death, making it impossible for us
to know if the UD qualified as a DSM-5 TE. However, PTSD symptoms can occur after non-
violent/non-witnessed death (Zisook et al., 1998) and this narrowing of the definition of
Atwoli 16
qualifying death in DSM-5 has been questioned (Friedman, 2013; Keyes et al., 2014; Larsen &
Pacella, 2016). It is relevant to this debate that our analysis found that specific manner of death
of a loved one has little impact on the risk of subsequent DSM-IV PTSD. This is true,
furthermore, even though some of the deaths reported were not “unexpected” in the sense that
they were reportedly due to physical illnesses of some duration, although the exact time of death
might have been unexpected (e.g., a relative known to have only a relatively short time to live
but seemingly in stable condition suddenly dropping dead at a holiday dinner).
Perhaps the most striking result in our study was that 30.6% of people who experienced
UD-related PTSD were among the 5% of respondents with highest predicted risk scores in our
cross-validated model. This result is broadly consistent with other recent studies showing that
PTSD can be predicted with good accuracy using predictor data collected in the immediate
aftermath of trauma (Galatzer-Levy, Karstoft, Statnikov, & Shalev, 2014; Karstoft et al., 2015;
Kessler et al., 2014). It is noteworthy that the high concentration of risk of PTSD we found was
based on a replicated cross-validated simulation designed to adjust for over-fitting. Our results
provide strong suggestive evidence that useful models could be developed in future prospective
studies to target prevention and treatment of UD-related PTSD (Endo, Yonemoto, & Yamada,
2015; Maercker & Znoj, 2010; Simon, 2013).
CONCLUSION
Unexpected death of a loved one is a highly prevalent TE associated with a somewhat
higher prevalence of PTSD than other TEs. Predictors of UD-related PTSD appear to be
consistent with other PTSD. Preliminary evidence suggests that UD-related PTSD could be
predicted with good accuracy from data available shortly after the death, although this evidence
is based on retrospective data and needs to be confirmed prospectively. These findings
Atwoli 17
emphasize that UD is a major public health issue and suggest that screening assessments might
be useful in identifying high-risk individuals for early interventions.
Atwoli 18
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The World Health Organization World Mental Health Survey collaborators are Tomasz
Adamowski, PhD, MD, Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, MD, PhD, Ali Al-Hamzawi, MD, Mohammad
Al-Kaisy, MD, Abdullah Al Subaie, MBBS, FRCP, Jordi Alonso, MD, PhD , Yasmin Altwaijri,
MS, PhD, Laura Helena Andrade, MD, PhD, Lukoye Atwoli, MD, PhD, Randy P. Auerbach,
PhD, William G. Axinn, PhD, Corina Benjet, PhD, Guilherme Borges, ScD, Robert M. Bossarte,
PhD, Evelyn J. Bromet, PhD, Ronny Bruffaerts, PhD, Brendan Bunting, PhD, Ernesto Caffo,
MD, Jose Miguel Caldas de Almeida, MD, PhD, Graca Cardoso, MD, PhD, Alfredo H. Cia, MD,
Stephanie Chardoul, Somnath Chatterji, MD, Alexandre Chiavegatto Filho, PhD, Pim Cuijpers,
PhD, Louisa Degenhardt, PhD, Giovanni de Girolamo, MD, Ron de Graaf, MS, PhD, Peter de
Jonge, PhD, Koen Demyttenaere, MD, PhD, David D. Ebert, PhD, Sara Evans-Lacko, PhD, John
Fayyad, MD, Fabian Fiestas, MD, PhD, Silvia Florescu, MD, PhD, Barbara Forresi, PhD, Sandro
Galea, DrPH, MD, MPH, Laura Germine, PhD, Stephen E. Gilman, ScD, Dirgha J. Ghimire,
PhD, Meyer D. Glantz, PhD, Oye Gureje, PhD, DSc, FRCPsych, Josep Maria Haro, MD, MPH,
PhD, Yanling He, MD, Hristo Hinkov, MD, Chi-yi Hu, PhD, MD, Yueqin Huang, MD, MPH,
PhD, Aimee Nasser Karam, PhD, Elie G. Karam, MD, Norito Kawakami, MD, DMSc, Ronald
C. Kessler, PhD, Andrzej Kiejna, MD, PhD, Karestan C. Koenen, PhD, Viviane Kovess-
Masfety, MSc, MD, PhD, Carmen Lara, MD, PhD, Sing Lee, PhD, Jean-Pierre Lepine, MD,
Itzhak Levav, MD, Daphna Levinson, PhD, Zhaorui Liu, MD, MPH, Silvia S. Martins, MD,
PhD, Herbert Matschinger, PhD, John J. McGrath, PhD, Katie A. McLaughlin, PhD, Maria
Elena Medina-Mora, PhD, Zeina Mneimneh, PhD, MPH, Jacek Moskalewicz, DrPH, Samuel D.
Murphy, DrPH, Fernando Navarro-Mateu, MD, PhD, Matthew K. Nock, PhD, Siobhan O'Neill,
PhD, Mark Oakley-Browne, MB, ChB, PhD, J. Hans Ormel, PhD, Beth-Ellen Pennell, MA,
Atwoli 19
Marina Piazza, MPH, ScD, Stephanie Pinder-Amaker, PhD, Patryk Piotrowski, MD, PhD, Jose
Posada-Villa, MD, Ayelet M. Ruscio, PhD, Kate M. Scott, PhD, Vicki Shahly, PhD, Tim Slade,
PhD, Jordan W. Smoller, ScD, MD, Juan Carlos Stagnaro, MD, PhD, Dan J. Stein, MBA, MSc,
PhD, Amy E. Street, PhD, Hisateru Tachimori, PhD, Nezar Taib, MS, Margreet ten Have, PhD,
Graham Thornicroft, PhD, Yolanda Torres, MPH, Maria Carmen Viana, MD, PhD, Gemma
Vilagut, MS, Elisabeth Wells, PhD, Harvey Whiteford, PhD, David R. Williams, MPH, PhD,
Michelle A. Williams, ScD, Bogdan Wojtyniak, ScD, Alan M. Zaslavsky, PhD.
The World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative is
supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; R01 MH070884 and R01
MH093612-01), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Pfizer Foundation, the
US Public Health Service (R13-MH066849, R01-MH069864, and R01 DA016558), the Fogarty
International Center (FIRCA R03-TW006481), the Pan American Health Organization, Eli Lilly
and Company, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
We thank the staff of the WMH Data Collection and Data Analysis Coordination Centres for
assistance with instrumentation, fieldwork, and consultation on data analysis.
The São Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey is supported by the State of São Paulo
Research Foundation (FAPESP) Thematic Project Grant 03/00204-3. The Bulgarian
Epidemiological Study of common mental disorders EPIBUL is supported by the Ministry of
Health and the National Center for Public Health Protection. The Colombian National Study of
Mental Health (NSMH) is supported by the Ministry of Social Protection. The Mental Health
Study Medellín – Colombia was carried out and supported jointly by the Center for Excellence
on Research in Mental Health (CES University) and the Secretary of Health of Medellín. The
ESEMeD project is funded by the European Commission (Contracts QLG5-1999-01042;
Atwoli 20
SANCO 2004123, and EAHC 20081308), (the Piedmont Region (Italy)), Fondo de Investigación
Sanitaria, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain (FIS 00/0028), Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología,
Spain (SAF 2000-158-CE), Departament de Salut, Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain, Instituto de
Salud Carlos III (CIBER CB06/02/0046, RETICS RD06/0011 REM-TAP), and other local
agencies and by an unrestricted educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline. The World Mental
Health Japan (WMHJ) Survey is supported by the Grant for Research on Psychiatric and
Neurological Diseases and Mental Health (H13-SHOGAI-023, H14-TOKUBETSU-026, H16-
KOKORO-013) from the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The Lebanese
Evaluation of the Burden of Ailments and Needs Of the Nation (L.E.B.A.N.O.N.) is supported
by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, the WHO (Lebanon), National Institute of Health /
Fogarty International Center (R03 TW006481-01), anonymous private donations to IDRAAC,
Lebanon, and unrestricted grants from, Algorithm, AstraZeneca, Benta, Bella Pharma, Eli Lilly,
Glaxo Smith Kline, Lundbeck, Novartis, Servier, Phenicia, UPO. The Northern Ireland Study of
Mental Health was funded by the Health & Social Care Research & Development Division of the
Public Health Agency. The Peruvian World Mental Health Study was funded by the National
Institute of Health of the Ministry of Health of Peru. The Romania WMH study projects
"Policies in Mental Health Area" and "National Study regarding Mental Health and Services
Use" were carried out by National School of Public Health & Health Services Management
(former National Institute for Research & Development in Health), with technical support of
Metro Media Transilvania, the National Institute of Statistics-National Centre for Training in
Statistics, SC. Cheyenne Services SRL, Statistics Netherlands and were funded by Ministry of
Public Health (former Ministry of Health) with supplemental support of Eli Lilly Romania SRL.
The South Africa Stress and Health Study (SASH) is supported by the US National Institute of
Atwoli 21
Mental Health (R01-MH059575) and National Institute of Drug Abuse with supplemental
funding from the South African Department of Health and the University of Michigan. Dr. Stein
is supported by the Medical Research Council of South Africa (MRC). The Psychiatric Enquiry
to General Population in Southeast Spain – Murcia (PEGASUS-Murcia) Project has been
financed by the Regional Health Authorities of Murcia (Servicio Murciano de Salud and
Consejería de Sanidad y Política Social) and Fundación para la Formación e Investigación
Sanitarias (FFIS) of Murcia. The Ukraine Comorbid Mental Disorders during Periods of Social
Disruption (CMDPSD) study is funded by the US National Institute of Mental Health (RO1-
MH61905). The US National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) is supported by the
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; U01-MH60220) with supplemental support from the
National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF; Grant 044708), and
the John W. Alden Trust.
None of the funders had any role in the design, analysis, interpretation of results, or
preparation of this paper. The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the authors
and should not be construed to represent the views of the sponsoring organizations, agencies, or
governments.
A complete list of all within-country and cross-national WMH publications can be found
at http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/wmh/.
Atwoli 22
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Table 1. Prevalence of DSM-IV/CIDI PTSD associated with unexpected death of a loved one (UD) among respondents for whom UD was their randomly selected traumatic event by survey (n=2,813)a
%
PTSDb (95% CI)c
Number with
PTSDb
Total sample
sizeb
I. High income countriesBelgium 6.8 (2.2-19.3) (6) (74)
France 2.7 (0.8-4.6) (14) (107)
Germany 8.1 (2.5-23.4) (7) (73)
Italy 5.3 (3.0-7.6) (12) (104)
Japan 1.4 (0.1-2.6) (8) (114)
Netherlands 3.8 (1.3-6.2) (8) (82)
Northern Ireland 12.6 (3.7-21.5) (27) (139)
Spain 4.1 (1.2-7.0) (18) (172)
Spain - Murcia 1.7 (0.5-5.4) (8) (202)
United States 4.5 (1.3-7.7) (50) (516)
Total 4.8 (3.3-6.2) (158) (1,583)
29 19.0*
II. Low or middle income countriesBrazil 7.1 (2.3-11.9) (10) (85)
Bulgaria 13.8 (4.0-38.0) (15) (72)
Colombia 0.7 (0.1-4.4) (4) (121)
Colombia - Medellín 11.7 (4.0-29.5) (21) (162)
Lebanon 4.0 (1.3-11.6) (6) (68)
Peru 1.4 (0.3-3.1) (4) (92)
Romania 3.3 (0.9-7.8) (6) (92)
South Africa 3.3 (0.2-6.4) (8) (374)
Ukraine 10.4 (3.1-17.7) (20) (164)
Total 5.9 (3.3-8.4) (94) (1,230)
28 15.3
III. Total 5.2 (3.9-6.6) (252) (2,813)
Overall between country difference 218 35.4*
High vs low or middle difference 21 0.6
*Significant at the .05 level, two-sided test.
aEach respondent who reported lifetime exposure to one or more Traumatic Events (TEs) had one occurrence of
one such experience selected at random for detailed assessment. Each of these randomly selected TEs was
weighted by the inverse of its probability of selection at the respondent level to create a weighted sample of TEs
that was representative of all TEs in the population. The randomly selected “deaths of a loved one” were the subset
of these randomly selected TEs involving “death of a loved one”. The sum of weights of the randomly selected
“deaths of a loved one” was standardized within surveys to sum to the observed number of respondents whose
randomly selected TE was “death of a loved one”. The n reported in the last column of this table represents that
number of respondents. The results reported here are for the surveys where at least one respondent with a
randomly selected “death of a loved one” met DSM-IV/CIDI criteria for PTSD related to that TE. Two surveys were
Atwoli 30
excluded for the following reasons: Mexico for low frequency of outcome (n=94) and Israel for having no
respondents experiencing “death of a loved one” as a TE (n=0).
bThe reported sample sizes are unweighted. The unweighted proportions of respondents with PTSD do not match
the prevalence estimates in the first column because the latter were based on weighted data.
cConfidence intervals that include 0.0% as the lower bound were estimated using the Wilson-score method (Reed
III, 2007). This method was used for the following countries: Belgium, Germany, Spain - Murcia, Bulgaria, Colombia,
Colombia - Medellín, Lebanon, Peru, and Romania.
dThe Wilson interval method (Reed III, 2007) was used to calculate confidence intervals when the lower bound of
1.96 times the standard error was less than 0.0.
Atwoli 31
Table 2. Associations of socio-demographics, trauma characteristics, and prior stressors with PTSD after randomly selected unexpected death of a loved one (n=2,813)a
Univariate model Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI)
I. Socio-demographics at time of traumatic eventRespondent age at TE exposure (vs. 1-17 years)
Upper middle-older age (35+) 2.5* (1.1-5.9) 1.7 (0.5-6.2) 1.2 (0.4-3.9) 1.6 (0.5-5.3) 0.9 (0.2-3.1)
Lower middle age (25-34) 1.4 (0.5-3.8) 1.1 (0.3-3.9) 1.1 (0.4-3.3) 1.2 (0.4-3.7) 0.7 (0.2-2.3)
Young adult (18-24) 0.7 (0.3-1.9) 0.7 (0.2-2.1) 0.8 (0.3-2.1) 0.9 (0.3-2.5) 0.6 (0.2-1.5)
F3,491 5.1* p=.002 1.5 p=.21 0.4 p=.76 0.5 p=.70 0.6 p=.60
Female gender (vs. male) 3.0* (1.5-6.0) 2.7* (1.3-5.6) 2.1* (1.0-4.3) 1.9* (1.1-3.5) 2.2* (1.2-3.9)
Education 1.0 (0.7-1.3) 1.0 (0.7-1.5) 1.0 (0.7-1.4) 1.0 (0.7-1.3) 1.0 (0.8-1.4)
Marital history (vs. never married)
Currently married 2.1* (1.3-3.6) 1.4 (0.6-3.1) 1.1 (0.5-2.4) 1.1 (0.5-2.5) 1.5 (0.6-3.9)
Previously married 3.2* (1.3-7.7) 1.7 (0.5-5.4) 2.2 (0.6-7.5) 1.7 (0.5-5.2) 0.8 (0.5-6.2)
F2,492 5.3* p=.005 0.4 p=.65 0.9 p=.39 0.5 p=.59 0.5 p=.63
II. Trauma characteristicsWho died (vs. other relative or non-family member)
Spouse 12.3* (5.6-27.0) -- -- 9.6* (4.1-22.3) 10.3* (4.5-23.6) 13.0* (5.3-31.9)
Son or daughter 12.1* (5.8-25.3) -- -- 8.7* (4.2-18.0) 11.7* (1.4-6.7) 15.1* (7.2-31.5)
Some other child (0-12 years old) 5.9* (1.5-22.2) -- -- 4.2* (1.7-10.2) 3.1* (1.4-6.7) 2.0* (1.1-3.9)
Parent 2.3* (1.2-4.3) -- -- 2.2* (1.1-4.4) 2.5* (1.3-4.9) 3.3* (1.7-6.6)
F4,490 15.7* p<.001 -- -- 12.6* p<.001 17.1* p<.001 15.4* p<.001
Cause of death (vs. illness or other)
Homicide 0.7 (0.2-2.6) -- -- 1.3 (0.5-3.5) 1.7 (0.6-4.5) 2.1 (0.8-5.4)
Suicide 0.4 (0.1-1.3) -- -- 0.5 (0.2-1.4) 0.5 (0.2-1.4) 0.4 (0.1-1.5)
Accident, natural disaster, or medical mishap 0.7 (0.4-1.3) -- -- 1.0 (0.6-1.8) 1.1 (0.6-2.0) 1.4 (0.7-2.5)
F3,491 0.9 p=.46 -- -- 0.8 p=.49 1.0 p=.37 1.9 p=.14
III. Perceived preventabilityR could have prevented death 3.4* (1.2-10.2) -- -- 2.8* (1.2-6.6) 1.9 (0.7-4.9) 1.5 (0.5-4.0)
IV. Prior vulnerability factorsPrior stresses
Prior exposure to any traumatic event (0-3)b 2.5* (1.4-4.5) -- -- -- -- 2.6* (1.2-5.9) 1.7 (1.0-3.1)
Maladaptive Family Functioning CAs (0-2)c 3.5* (2.2-5.6) -- -- -- -- 2.8* (1.7-4.8) 2.2* (1.3-3.8)
Prior mental disorders (0-8)d 1.8* (1.5-2.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- 1.8* (1.5-2.3)
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F(7,487), (15,479), (17,477), (18,476)e 5.6* p<.001 7.6* p<.001 11.4* p<.001 11.1* p<.001
*Significant at the .05 level, two-sided test.
aModels were based on weighted data. See the text for details. Each model included dummy variable controls for WMH survey.
bNumber of prior traumatic events (values=0-3+) was calculated as the sum of 4 individual prior TEs (beaten by caregiver, beaten by someone else, witnessed physical fight at home, and man-
made disaster) from Appendix Table 4.
cNumber of Maladaptive Family Functioning Childhood Adversities (MFF CAs) (values=0-2+) was calculated as the sum of 3 significant individual MFF CA's (parental mental, parental substance
misuse, and sexual abuse) from Appendix Table 5.
dNumber of mental disorders was calculated as the weighted sum of ADHD, drug abuse/dependence, and alcohol abuse/dependence from Appendix Table 6.
eDesign-based F tests were used to evaluate significance of predictor sets, with numerator degrees of freedom equal to number of predictors and denominator degrees of freedom equal to
number of geographically-clustered sampling error calculation units containing randomly selected deaths of a loved one across surveys (n=1,062) minus the sum of primary sample units from
which these sampling error calculation units were selected (n=569) and one less than the number of variables in the predictor set (Reed III, 2007), resulting in 493 denominator degrees of
freedom in evaluating bivariate associations and fewer in evaluating multivariate associations.
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Table 3. Concentration of risk and positive predictive value of observed PTSD among the 5% of respondents assessed for PTSD after randomly selected unexpected death of a loved one with highest predicted risk of PTSD in the total sample and stratified by subgroups
Simulated samplea (n = 56,260) Observed sampleb (n = 2,813)Concentration of risk Positive Predictive Value Concentration of risk Positive Predictive Value% PTSD (SE) % PTSD (SE) % PTSD (SE) % PTSD (SE)
I. Total 30.6 (6.2) 25.3 (5.3) 53.7 (6.5) 37.2 (5.9)
II. Country incomeHigh 26.7 (4.3) 18.2 (3.2) 50.5 (7.8) 37.7 (7.6)
Low or middle 34.6 (11.4) 36.6 (11.1) 57.0 (10.3) 36.8 (8.9)
III. Age 30+ years old 35.7 (6.5) 22.0 (3.2) 61.1 (8.2) 35.5 (6.1)
< 30 years old 25.0 (12.0) 32.8 (14.8) 45.6 (10.6) 40.0 (10.7)
IV. GenderMale 14.7 (4.0) 22.6 (9.7) 48.2 (15.0) 42.5 (15.2)
Female 35.2 (7.6) 25.6 (5.8) 55.3 (7.2) 36.1 (6.1)
V. EducationLow or low-average 24.6 (5.4) 22.9 (5.6) 45.0 (9.2) 27.5 (7.1)
High or high-average 36.8 (10.7) 27.2 (8.3) 62.7 (8.3) 50.5 (8.6)
aEstimates calculated from 20 replicates of 10-fold cross-validation of the final model.
bEstimates calculated from the final model.
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Figure title: Figure 1. AUC of PTSD model, total sample and by selected sub-groups,
"Unexpected death of a loved one", weighted analysis
Figure footnote: Note. "Older (top half of age range)" = 30+ years old; "Younger
(bottom half of age range)" < 30 years old. "Higher education" = high and high-average;
"Lower education" = low and low-average.
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Appendix Table 1. WMH sample characteristics by World Bank income categoriesa
Sample sizes
Country by income category Surveyb Sample characteristicsc Field dates Age range
Response rated Part 1 Part 2
Reported any TE
Reported unexpected death of a loved one
Unexpected death of a loved one was the
randomly-selected TE
I. High income countries
Belgium ESEMeDNationally representative. The sample was selected from a national register of Belgium residents 2001-2 18-95 50.6 2,419 1,043 710 284 74
France ESEMeDNationally representative. The sample was selected from a national list of households with listed telephone numbers. 2001-2 18-97 45.9 2,894 1,436 1,071 440 107
Germany ESEMeD Nationally representative. 2002-3 19-95 57.8 3,555 1,323 928 387 73
Italy ESEMeDNationally representative. The sample was selected from municipality resident registries. 2001-2 18-100 71.3 4,712 1,779 1,064 400 104
JapanWMHJ 2002-
2006 Eleven metropolitan areas. 2002-6 20-98 55.1 4,129 1,682 1,138 460 114
Netherlands ESEMeDNationally representative. Sample selected from municipal postal registries. 2002-3 18-95 56.4 2,372 1,094 788 336 82
Northern Ireland NISHS Nationally representative. 2004-7 18-97 68.4 4,340 1,986 1,287 591 139
Spain ESEMeD Nationally representative. 2001-2 18-98 78.6 5,473 2,121 1,284 496 172
Spain – MurciaPEGASUS-
Murcia Murcia region. 2010-12 18-96 67.4 2,621 1,459 942 430 202
United States NCS-R Nationally representative. 2002-3 18-99 70.9 9,282 5,692 4,954 2,644 516
Total 63.5 (41,797) (19,615) (14,166) (6,468) (1,583)
II. Low or middle income countries
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Brazil - São PauloSão Paulo Megacity São Paulo metropolitan area. 2005-7 18-93 81.3 5,037 2,942 2,330 1,085 85
Bulgaria NSHS Nationally representative. 2003-7 18-98 72.0 5,318 2,233 776 328 72
Colombia NSMHAll urban areas of the country (approximately 73% of the total national population) 2003 18-65 87.7 4,426 2,381 2,068 1,062 121
Colombia – Medellín e,f MMHHS Medellín metropolitan area. 2011-12 19-65 97.2 3,261 1,673 1,387 697 162
Lebanon LEBANON Nationally representative. 2002-3 18-94 70.0 2,857 1,031 873 445 69
Peru EMSMP Nationally representative. 2004-5 18-65 90.2 3,930 1,801 1,530 609 92
Romania RMHS Nationally representative. 2005-6 18-96 70.9 2,357 2,357 997 255 92
South Africae SASH Nationally representative. 2003-4 18-92 87.1 4,315 4,315 3,085 1,667 374
Ukraine CMDPSD Nationally representative. 2002 18-91 78.3 4,725 1,720 1,545 773 164
Total 81.0 (36,226) (20,453) (14,591) (6,921) (1,230)
III. Total 70.1 (78,023) (40,068) (28,757) (13,389) (2,813)
aThe World Bank (2012) Data. Accessed May 12, 2012 at: http://data.worldbank.org/country. Some of the WMH countries have moved into new income categories since the surveys were conducted. The income groupings above reflect the status of each country at the time of data collection. The current income category of each country is available at the preceding URL.
bESEMeD (The European Study Of The Epidemiology Of Mental Disorders); WMHJ2002-2006 (World Mental Health Japan Survey); NISHS (Northern Ireland Study of Health and Stress); PEGASUS-Murcia (Psychiatric Enquiry to General Population in Southeast Spain-Murcia); NCS-R (The US National Comorbidity Survey Replication); NSHS (Bulgaria National Survey of Health and Stress); NSMH (The Colombian National Study of Mental Health); LEBANON (Lebanese Evaluation of the Burden of Ailments and Needs of the Nation); MMHHS (Medellín Mental Health Household Study); EMSMP (La Encuesta Mundial de Salud Mental en el Peru); RMHS (Romania Mental Health Survey); SASH (South Africa Health Survey); CMDPSD (Comorbid Mental Disorders during Periods of Social Disruption).
cMost WMH surveys are based on stratified multistage clustered area probability household samples in which samples of areas equivalent to counties or municipalities in the US were selected in the first stage followed by one or more subsequent stages of geographic sampling (e.g., towns within counties, blocks within towns, households within blocks) to arrive at a sample of households, in each of which a listing of household members was created and one or two people were selected from this listing to be interviewed. No substitution was allowed when the originally sampled household resident could not be interviewed. These household samples were selected from Census area data in all countries other than France (where telephone directories were used to select households) and the Netherlands (where postal registries were used to select households). Several WMH surveys (Belgium, Germany, Italy) used municipal resident registries to select respondents without listing households. The Japanese sample is the only totally un-clustered sample, with households randomly selected in each of the 11 metropolitan areas and one random respondent selected in each sample household. 14 of the 19 surveys are based on nationally representative household samples.
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dThe response rate is calculated as the ratio of the number of households in which an interview was completed to the number of households originally sampled, excluding from the denominator households known not to be eligible either because of being vacant at the time of initial contact or because the residents were unable to speak the designated languages of the survey. The weighted average response rate is 70.1%.
eFor the purposes of cross-national comparisons we limit the sample to those 18+.
fColombia moved from the "lower and lower-middle income" to the "upper-middle income" category between 2003 (when the Colombian National Study of Mental Health was conducted) and 2010 (when the Medellín Mental Health Household Study was conducted), hence Colombia's appearance in both income categories. For more information, please see footnote a.
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Appendix Table 2. Distribution of lifetime exposure to traumatic experiences (TEs) and death of a loved one in the participating WMH surveys (n=40,067)a
Proportion of respondents exposed
to any lifetime TE
Proportion of respondents exposed to any lifetime death
of a loved one
Mean number of rapes/ sexual
assaults among those exposed to
any death of a loved one
Rapes/sexual assaults as a
proportion of all lifetime TEs
(n) of randomly selected
death of a loved one% (SE) % (SE) Mean (SE) % (SE)
I. High income
Belgium 65.8 (3.1) 24.4 (2.2) 1.5 (0.1) 28.1 (2.6) (74)
France 72.7 (2.3) 28.2 (1.9) 1.5 (0.1) 26.5 (2.1) (107)
Germany 67.3 (2.2) 27.2 (2.0) 1.6 (0.1) 29.0 (2.1) (73)
Italy 56.1 (2.2) 20.4 (1.2) 1.5 (0.0) 23.8 (1.4) (104)
Japan 60.7 (1.7) 23.7 (1.4) 1.6 (0.1) 31.5 (2.0) (114)
The Netherlands 65.6 (2.8) 25.4 (2.1) 1.6 (0.1) 31.3 (2.2) (82)
Northern Ireland 60.6 (1.7) 26.7 (1.2) 1.6 (0.1) 30.5 (1.3) (139)
Spain 54.0 (1.7) 20.6 (1.4) 1.4 (0.1) 32.2 (1.9) (172)
Spain - Murcia 62.4 (1.9) 29.6 (2.3) 1.3 (0.1) 40.2 (1.5) (202)
United States 82.7 (0.9) 41.9 (1.1) 2.0 (0.1) 31.9 (0.7) (516)
Total 67.9 (0.6) 29.8 (0.6) 1.7 (0.0) 30.8 (0.5) (1,583)
II. Low or middle income countries
Brazil 73.8 (1.5) 31.0 (1.1) 1.5 (0.0) 25.2 (0.9) (85)
Bulgaria 28.6 (1.3) 11.0 (1.0) 1.4 (0.1) 35.0 (3.9) (72)
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Colombia 82.7 (1.4) 39.7 (1.5) 1.8 (0.1) 27.6 (1.2) (121)
Colombia - Medellín 75.1 (2.6) 33.0 (2.3) 2.0 (0.1) 29.6 (1.5) (162)
Lebanon 81.1 (2.7) 36.6 (2.5) 1.6 (0.1) 27.0 (1.4) (68)
Peru 83.1 (0.8) 31.6 (1.0) 1.4 (0.1) 22.2 (1.2) (92)
Romania 41.5 (1.1) 10.5 (0.7) 1.4 (0.0) 21.0 (1.3) (92)
South Africa 73.8 (1.2) 39.2 (1.2) 1.6 (0.0) 33.2 (0.8) (374)
Ukraine 84.6 (1.7) 41.0 (2.1) 1.4 (0.1) 27.5 (1.3) (164)
Total 68.4 (0.6) 30.5 (0.5) 1.6 (0.0) 28.0 (0.4) (1,230)
III. Total 68.2 (0.4) 30.2 (0.4) 1.6 (0.0) 29.3 (0.3) (2,813)
aTwo surveys were excluded for the following reasons: Mexico for low frequency of outcome (n=94) and Israel for having no respondents experiencing “death of a loved one” as a TE (n=0).
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Appendix Table 3. Sample distribution and prevalence of DSM-IV/CIDI PTSD associated with randomly-selected unexpected death of loved on by selected respondent characteristics (n=2,813)a
Sample Distribution PTSD Prevalence
% (SE) % (95% CI) (n)b
I. Socio-demographics at time of traumatic event
Age
Older (35+) 28.1 (1.7) 8.3 (5.3-11.4) (1,003)
Lower middle age (25-34) 22.6 (1.7) 4.9 (2.8-7.0) (605)
Young adult (18-24) 23.9 (1.8) 2.8 (1.4-4.2) (621)
Children and adolescents (1-17) 25.4 (2.1) 4.4 (1.1-7.7) (584)
χ24 -- -- 15.3 p=.002 --
Gender
Female 58.2 (2.3) 7.0 (4.9-9.0) (1,980)
Male 41.8 (2.3) 2.8 (1.3-4.3) (833)
χ21 -- -- 9.9 p=.002 --
Education
Low 24.9 (1.5) 5.7 (3.0-8.5) (711)
Low-average 31.9 (2.0) 3.9 (2.1-5.7) (840)
High-average 32.2 (1.8) 6.3 (3.3-9.2) (947)
High 11.1 (1.3) 4.9 (1.9-8.0) (315)
χ23 -- -- 4.5 p=.21 --
Marital status
Currently married 31.1 (1.8) 7.0 (4.5-9.5) (1,028)
Previously married 6.5 (0.9) 9.9 (2.7-17.1) (198)
Never married 62.4 (1.8) 3.9 (2.3-5.5) (1,587)
χ22 -- -- 10.6 p=.005 --
II. Trauma characteristics
Who died
Spouse 4.8 (0.7) 24.0 (12.6-35.3) (254)
Son or daughter 5.4 (0.7) 17.5 (8.9-26.2) (232)
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Some other child (ages 0-12) 4.1 (0.7) 11.9 (0.0-28.3) (115)
Parent 19.9 (1.4) 5.2 (3.2-7.2) (583)
Other relative or non-family member 65.7 (1.8) 2.5 (1.4-3.5) (1,629)
χ24 -- -- 62.5 p<.001 --
Cause of death
Homicide 10.9 (1.2) 6.1 (2.8-9.5) (295)
Suicide 9.9 (1.1) 2.5 (0.0-4.9) (257)
Accident, natural disaster, or medical mishap 35.2 (2.1) 4.8 (2.6-6.9) (952)
Illness or other 44.8 (2.1) 6.0 (3.8-8.3) (1,309)
χ23 -- -- 2.6 p=.46 --
III. Perceived preventability
R could have prevented death
Yes 7.1 (1.1) 11.4 (0.9-21.9) (202)
No 92.9 (1.1) 4.8 (3.5-6.0) (2,611)
χ21 -- -- 5.0 p=.026 --
IV. Prior vulnerability factors
Number of prior exposure to any traumatic eventsc
0 77.5 (1.9) 4.5 (3.3-5.7) (2,514)
1 17.1 (1.7) 5.2 (2.4-8.1) (236)
2 4.8 (1.0) 12.2 (0.0-27.0) (59)
3+ 0.6 (0.3) 46.3 (0.0-100.0) (4)
χ23 -- -- 13.7 p=.003 --
Number of maladaptive family functioning childhood adversitiesd
0 84.1 (1.5) 4.0 (2.8-5.1) (2,464)
1 13.8 (1.4) 8.4 (4.6-12.3) (302)
2+ 2.1 (0.5) 35.4 (9.8-61.0) (47)
χ22 -- -- 29.4 p<.001 --
Number of prior mental disorderse
0 73.3 (1.6) 4.0 (2.7-5.3) (2080)
1 13.6 (1.3) 4.1 (2.2-6.0) (410)
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2 6.1 (0.8) 5.6 (1.4-9.7) (177)
3 3.1 (0.6) 16.9 (6.4-27.4) (87)
4 0.9 (0.2) 10.8 (1.7-19.8) (31)
5 2.2 (0.1) 4.3 (0.0-8.9) (10)
6 0.5 (0.4) 74.5 (30.8-100.0) (9)
7 0.4 (0.2) 73.8 (38.4-100.0) (8)
8 0.0 (0.0) 100.0 (100.0-100.0) (1)
χ28 -- -- 35.8 p<.001 --
V. Total -- -- 5.2 (3.9-6.6) (2,813)
aPrevalence estimates are based on weighted data. See the text for a description of the weighting procedures. Significance tests are design-based tests of univariate associations of each characteristic with PTSD based on logistic regression models with dummy controls for survey. Estimates were calculated from weighted data. Wald chi-square statistics and p-values were estimated while controlling for country.
bReported sample sizes are unweighted.
cTraumatic experiences include those involving interpersonal violence and manmade disasters (beaten by caregiver, beaten by someone else, witnessed physical fight at home, and man-made disaster), identified as significant from Appendix Table 4.
dMaladaptive family functioning childhood adversities include parental mental illness, parental substance disorder, and sexual abuse, identified as significant from Appendix Table 5.
eMental disorders include anxiety disorders, ADHD, drug abuse/dependence, and alcohol abuse/dependence.
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Appendix Table 4. Associations of prior lifetime traumatic experiences with DSM-IV/CIDI PTSD associated with unexpected death of a loved one (n=2,813)a
Univariate Model Multivariate Model 1b Multivariate Model 2 Multivariate Model 3 Multivariate Model 4 Multivariate Model 5
OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI)
I. Exposure to sectarian violence
Relief worker in war zone 0.0 (0.0-0.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Civilian in war zone 0.4 (0.1-2.2) 0.3 (0.0-2.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Civilian in region of terror 1.1 (0.4-2.7) 0.8 (0.2-2.9) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Refugee 2.4 (0.8-7.1) 2.0 (0.5-8.4) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Kidnapped 1.9 (0.2-16.1) 0.3 (0.0-2.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Total count (0-2) 0.9 (0.5-1.7) -- -- 0.6 (0.3-1.2) -- -- -- -- -- --
Ftotal -- -- F4,490=0.9 p=.46 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Fbetween category -- -- F3,491=1.1 p=.35 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
II. Participation in sectarian violence
Combat experience 1.0 (0.1-8.9) 1.1 (0.1-22.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Witnessed death 2.0 (0.9-4.2) 1.5 (0.7-3.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Accidentally cause injury/death 17.0* (2.2-131.2) 5.4* (1.3-22.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Purposefully injured/killed someone 65.2* (4.7-912.7) 12.9* (1.6-104.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Saw atrocities 0.8 (0.1-6.9) 0.7 (0.0-15.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Total count (0-2) 1.9 (1.0-3.8) -- -- 1.6 (0.9-3.0) -- -- -- -- -- --
Ftotal -- -- F5,489=3.1 p=.009 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Fbetween category -- -- F4,490=1.7 p=.15 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
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III. Interpersonal violence
Beaten by caregiver 4.1* (1.4-12.6) 2.3* (1.0-5.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Beaten by someone else 3.3 (0.4-25.3) 0.8 (0.2-2.9) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Witnessed physical fight at home 3.2* (1.4-7.2) 2.6 (0.9-7.9) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Total count (0-2)c 3.2* (1.4-7.1) -- -- 2.4* (1.3-4.6) 2.8* (1.5-5.2) -- -- 0.9 (0.2-4.3)
Ftotal -- -- F3,491=2.9 p=.036 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Fbetween category -- -- F2,492=1.5 p=.24 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
IV. Exposure to sexual violence
Beaten by spouse/partner 2.5* (1.0-5.8) 2.7* (1.2-6.4) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Raped 3.4* (1.3-8.8) 2.3 (0.7-7.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Sexually assaulted 2.9* (1.3-6.6) 2.1 (0.9-5.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Stalked 0.9 (0.2-4.6) 0.7 (0.1-5.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Traumatic event to loved one 2.0 (0.6-6.1) 1.9 (0.5-7.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Some other event 2.7 (0.8-8.5) 1.8 (0.5-7.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Private event 0.3 (0.1-1.1) 0.2* (0.0-0.7) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Total count (0-5) 1.6* (1.1-2.2) -- -- 1.4 (1.0-2.1) -- -- -- -- -- --
Ftotal -- -- F7,487=2.1 p=.043 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Fbetween category -- -- F6,488=1.6 p=.14 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
V. Accident/injuries
Toxic chemical exposure 6.7* (1.0-44.5) 1.2 (0.4-4.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Automobile accident 2.3 (0.9-5.5) 2.1 (0.9-4.8) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
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Other life threatening accident 1.8 (0.2-12.7) 0.3 (0.1-1.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Natural disaster 0.5 (0.1-1.5) 0.3 (0.1-1.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Life-threatening illness 2.7 (0.9-8.3) 1.2 (0.5-3.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Child with serious illness 1.1 (0.4-3.5) 1.0 (0.3-3.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Total count (0-3) 1.6 (0.9-2.7) -- -- 1.1 (0.7-1.6) -- -- -- -- -- --
Ftotal -- -- F6,488=1.4 p=.20 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Fbetween category -- -- F5,489=1.7 p=.13 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
VI. Other trauma
Man-made disaster 7.0* (1.7-28.8) 4.2* (1.3-13.3) 4.9* (1.6-15.3) 5.2* (1.8-15.0) -- -- 1.8 (0.6-5.5)
Mugged or threatened with a weapon 1.8 (0.6-5.6) 0.8 (0.3-2.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Unexpected death of a loved one 1.4 (0.8-2.5) 1.0 (0.6-1.8) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Total count (0-3) 1.7 (0.9-3.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Ftotal -- -- F3,491=2.9 p=.035 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Fbetween category -- -- F2,492=3.9 p=.021 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
VII. Total traumatic experiences
Ftotal -- -- F28,466=2.9 p<.001 F5,489=4.0 p=.002 -- -- -- -- -- --
Fbetween category -- -- F27,467=2.3 p<.001 F4,490=2.6 p=.034 -- -- -- -- F2,492=0.6 p=.52
VIII. Composite of Interpersonal violence and man-made disaster
Total count (0-3) 3.3* (1.7-6.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.3* (1.7-6.2) 2.9* (1.1-7.2)
IX. Any traumatic event
Total count (0-3) 1.4* (1.2-1.6) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
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Exactly 1 prior TE 1.4 (0.8-2.5) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Exactly 2 prior TEs 1.2 (0.6-2.4) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
3+ prior TEs 2.4* (1.2-4.6) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Ftotal F3,491=3.1 p=.026 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
*Significant at the .05 level, two-sided design-based test.
aAll results are based on weighted data. See the text for a description of the weighting procedures. Coefficients come from logistic regression models controlling for the socio-demographic variables and characteristics of the unexpected death in Table 2, Model 2 and dummy variables for survey predicting PTSD.
bOnly the traumatic experiences associated with at least 1 case of PTSD were carried forward into the multivariate models.
cThe odds ratio of 0.9 (0.2-4.3) in multivariate model 5 comes from a dummy variable for exactly 2 of the count of the three interpersonal violence traumas and man-made disaster.
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Appendix Table 5. Associations of childhood adversities with DSM-IV/CIDI PTSD associated with unexpected death of a loved one (n=2,813)a
Univariate Model Multivariate Model 1 Multivariate Model 2 Multivariate Model 3 Multivariate Model 4 Multivariate Model 5
OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI)
I. Maladaptive family functioning (MFF) childhood functioning (CA)
Parental mental illness 4.0* (2.2-7.2) 3.2* (1.5-6.7) 3.0* (1.4-6.4) 3.6* (1.9-6.7) -- -- 0.8 (0.3-2.1)
Parental substance misuse 3.4* (1.4-8.1) 2.7* (1.0-7.2) 2.8* (1.1-7.2) 2.5* (1.1-5.7) -- -- 0.6 (0.2-1.7)
Parental criminality 1.2 (0.5-2.9) 0.5 (0.2-1.3) 0.5 (0.2-1.3) -- -- -- -- -- --
Family violence 2.4* (1.1-5.1) 1.1 (0.3-3.6) 1.0 (0.3-3.4) -- -- -- -- -- --
Physical abuse 3.3* (1.3-8.3) 2.2 (0.7-6.4) 2.3 (0.7-7.7) -- -- -- -- -- --
Sexual abuse 6.1* (2.4-15.3) 5.0* (2.1-11.9) 4.7* (1.9-11.4) 4.6* (1.9-11.2) -- -- -- --
Neglect 3.1* (1.4-7.1) 1.0 (0.3-3.2) 1.2 (0.5-3.1) -- -- -- -- -- --
Ftotal -- -- F7,487=6.5* p<.001 F7,487=7.2* p<.001 F3,491=11.9* p<.001 -- -- F2,492=0.6 p=.58
Fbetween category b -- -- F6,488=3.0* p=.007 F6,488=3.0* p=.007 -- -- -- -- -- --
Count of selected MFF CAs (0-2) 3.6* (2.4-5.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.6* (2.4-5.3) 4.9* (2.0-12.1)
II. Other CAs
Parental death 0.9 (0.5-1.7) 0.8 (0.4-1.5) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Parental divorce 1.6 (0.6-4.5) 1.1 (0.5-2.7) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Other parental loss 2.7 (0.7-11.1) 2.4 (0.5-10.4) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Serious physical illness 0.4 (0.1-1.6) 0.2 (0.0-1.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Family economic adversity 1.3 (0.3-5.3) 0.8 (0.2-2.8) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Ftotal -- -- F5,489=1.1 p=.40 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
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Fbetween category -- -- F4,490=1.3 p=.28 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
III. Total CAs (MFF and other)
Ftotal -- -- F12,482=4.1* p<.001 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Fbetween category -- -- F11,483=2.2* p=.012 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
IV. Count of MFF CAs
Exactly 1 4.1* (1.9-8.8) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
2+ 4.3* (2.3-8.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Ftotal F2,492=12.0 p<.001 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
V. Count of other CAs
Exactly 1 1.2 (0.7-2.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
2+ 1.3 (0.2-9.6) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Ftotal F2,492=0.3 p=.74 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
*Significant at the .05 level, two-sided design-based test.
aAll results are based on weighted data. See the text for a description of the weighting procedures. Coefficients come from logistic regression models controlling for the socio-demographic variables and characteristics of the unexpected death in Table 2, Model 2 and dummy variables for survey predicting PTSD.
bThis test evaluates the significance of differences among ORs among the 7 MFF CAs or ORs among the 5 other CAs.
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Appendix Table 6. Associations of prior lifetime DSM-IV/CIDI mental disorders with DSM-IV/CIDI PTSD associated with unexpected death of a loved one (n=2,813)a
Univariate Multivariate Model 1 Multivariate Model 2 Multivariate Model 3 Multivariate Model 4OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI) OR (95% CI)
I. Mood disordersMDE or dysthymia 2.1* (1.1-3.8) 1.1 (0.6-2.2) -- -- -- -- -- --
BPD 10.1* (1.7-58.5) 2.3 (0.5-10.4) -- -- -- -- -- --
Total count (0-2) 2.4* (1.3-4.1) -- -- 1.4 (0.8-2.4) -- -- -- --
Ftotal -- -- F2,492=0.6 p=.55 -- -- -- -- -- --
Fbetween category -- -- F1,493=0.7 p=.40 -- -- -- -- -- --
II. Anxiety disordersAgoraphobia/panic 1.3 (0.5-3.6) 0.6 (0.2-1.7) -- -- -- -- -- --
GAD 3.6* (1.5-8.5) 2.6* (1.1-6.0) -- -- -- -- -- --
PTSD 3.2* (1.1-9.2) 1.8 (0.5-6.5) -- -- -- -- -- --
Social phobia 3.3* (1.5-7.2) 2.9* (1.3-6.7) -- -- -- -- -- --
Specific phobia 1.4 (0.8-2.7) 0.9 (0.5-1.7) -- -- -- -- -- --
SAD 3.7* (1.3-10.5) 1.5 (0.6-3.8) -- -- -- -- -- --
Total count (0-3) 1.8* (1.4-2.4) -- -- 1.5* (1.1-2.1) 5.1 (0.5-51.9) -- --
Ftotal -- -- F6,488=2.5 p=.023 -- -- -- -- -- --
Fbetween category -- -- F5,489=1.7 p=.12 -- -- -- -- -- --
III. Behavior disordersADHD 6.1* (2.5-14.4) 6.7* (2.3-19.7) 6.6* (2.5-17.1) 21.4* (1.6-294.9) 1.5 (0.4-5.4)
Conduct 1.4 (0.2-8.4) 0.3 (0.0-2.2) -- -- -- -- -- --
IED 1.1 (0.1-9.4) 0.9 (0.1-12.3) -- -- -- -- -- --
ODD 4.3* (1.5-12.5) 3.2 (0.8-12.9) -- -- -- -- -- --
Total count (0-3) 2.1* (1.2-3.8) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Ftotal -- -- F4,490=4.6 p=.001 -- -- -- -- -- --
Fbetween category -- -- F3,491=3.2 p=.024 -- -- -- -- -- --
IV. Substance disordersDrug 18.1* (4.3-75.1) 7.9* (1.3-47.2) -- -- -- -- -- --
Alcohol 5.7* (2.3-14.6) 2.4 (0.7-8.4) -- -- -- -- -- --
Total count (0-2) 4.7* (2.2-9.9) -- -- 3.9* (1.8-8.3) 10.3* (1.3-84.5) 1.5 (0.6-4.0)
Ftotal -- -- F2,492=5.6 p=.004 -- -- -- -- F2,492=0.4 p=.67
Fbetween category -- -- F1,493=0.8 p=.36 -- -- -- -- -- --
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Ftotal -- -- F14,480=3.1 p<.001 -- -- -- -- -- --
Fbetween disorders -- -- F13,481=1.9 p=.030 -- -- -- -- -- --
VI. Composite of anxiety, ADHD, and substance disordersScore (0-8) 1.8* (1.5-2.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- 1.6* (1.2-2.2)
VII. TotalAny disorder 2.3* (1.4-3.8) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Exactly 1 0.9 (0.5-1.6) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Exactly 2 2.3 (0.9-5.7) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Exactly 3 5.2* (1.9-13.9) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
4+ 7.4* (2.8-19.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Ftotal F4,490=7.1* p<.001 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
*Significant at the .05 level, two-sided design-based test.
aAll results are based on weighted data. See the text for a description of the weighting procedures. Coefficients come from logistic regression models controlling for the socio-demographic variables, characteristics of the unexpected death, and prior stressors in Table 2, Model 3 and dummy variables for survey predicting PTSD.
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