Identifying Trends in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Type of Trauma, and Associated Features: A Latent Class Analysis

The aim of the study was to identify salient groupings of trauma survivors based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5 posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology. Latent class analysis was used in 365 outpatient mental health trauma survivors. We identified six classes with two spectra—prominent avoidance and negative alterations in cognitions/mood (NACM)—and a resilient class (a plurality). Sexual assaults were more common among avoidance-prominent classes, and suicide attempts and tobacco problems were more common among NACM-prominent classes. Previous studies have found classes differentiated by numbing, but this is the first since numbing was subsumed by DSM-5’s NACM. Our findings suggest that avoidance and numbing are distinct symptoms (consistent with DSM-5) but indicate that current nosology may miss individuals with high numbing and low avoidance despite their distinct suicide risks.