@article{ref1,
title="PTSD is not the emblematic disorder of the COVID-19 pandemic; adjustment disorder is",
journal="BMC psychiatry",
year="2022",
author="Brunet, Alain and Rivest-Beauregard, Marjolaine and Lonergan, Michelle and Cipolletta, Sabrina and Rasmussen, Andrew and Meng, Xiangfei and Jaafari, Nematollah and Romero, Sara and Superka, Julia and Brown, Adam D. and Sapkota, Ram P.",
volume="22",
number="1",
pages="e300-e300",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been hailed by some as the emblematic mental disorder of the COVID-19 pandemic, assuming that PTSD's life-threat criterion was met de facto. More plausible outcomes like adjustment disorder (AD) have been overlooked. <br><br>METHODS: An online cross-sectional survey was launched in the initial stage of the pandemic using a convenience sample of 5 913 adults to compare the prevalence of COVID-related probable PTSD versus probable AD. The abridged Impact of Event Scale - Revised (IES-6) assessed the severity of trauma- and stressor-related symptoms over the previous week. Demographic and pandemic-related data (e.g., receiving a formal diagnosis of COVID-19, job loss, loss of loved one, confinement, material hardship) were collected. A Classification and Regression Tree analysis was conducted to uncover the pandemic experiences leading to clinical 'caseness'. Caseness was defined by a score > 9 on the IES-6 symptom measure and further characterized as PTSD or AD depending on whether the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory's life-threat item was endorsed or not. <br><br>RESULTS: The participants were predominantly Caucasian (72.8%), women (79.2%), with a university degree (85%), and a mean age of 42.22 (SD = 15.24) years; 3 647 participants (61.7%; 95%CI [60.4, 63.0]) met the threshold for caseness. However, when perceived life-threat was accounted for, only 6.7% (95%CI [6.1, 7.4]) were classified as PTSD cases, and 55% (95%CI [53.7, 56.2]) as AD cases. Among the AD cases, three distinct profiles emerged marked by the following: (i) a worst personal pandemic experience eliciting intense fear, helplessness or horror (in the absence, however, of any life-threat), (ii) a pandemic experience eliciting sadness/grief, and (iii) worrying intensely about the safety of significant others. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Studies considering the life-threat criterion as met de facto during the pandemic are confusing PTSD for AD on most counts. This misconception is obscuring the various AD-related idioms of distress that have emerged during the pandemic and the actual treatment needs.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1471-244X",
doi="10.1186/s12888-022-03903-5",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-03903-5"
}