Traumatic Events, Criterion Creep, and the
Creation of Pretraumatic Stress Disorder
Author:
Gerald M. Rosen - University of Washington
Author
Note:
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Gerald
M. Rosen, 205 Eastlake Center, 2825 Eastlake Ave. East, Seattle, WA 98102.
E-mail: grosen@u.washington.edu.
Abstract:
The linkage of a defined class of traumatic events (Criterion A) with a specified set of symptoms (Criteria B through
D) is central to the conceptual foundations of posttraumatic stress disorder. Over the years there has been “conceptual
bracket creep” (McNally, 2003) in which an ever-widening field of adverse events is subsumed under Criterion
A. In a recent demonstration of this point, Avina and O’Donohue (2002) proposed that nontraumatic events can lead
to PTSD as a consequence of the expectation of future trauma. This proposal creates the conceptual equivalent of
“pretraumatic” stress disorder, and moves one bracket closer toward rendering the construct of PTSD meaningless.
