Cited by 578Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchSuicide and Self-Harm StudiesSleep and related disorders

Comorbidity, Impairment, and Suicidality in Subthreshold PTSD

Marshall, Randall D., Olfson, Mark, Hellman, Fredric, Blanco, Carlos, Guardino, Mary, Struening, Elmer L.·2001·American Journal of Psychiatry

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Reliance on the categorical model of psychiatric disorders has led to neglected study of posttraumatic sequelae that fall short of full criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Substantial disability and suicidal risk is associated with subthreshold PTSD, but this association has not been well studied. In addition, no studies have examined the role of comorbidity in explaining disability and impairment in subthreshold PTSD. METHOD: On National Anxiety Disorders Screening Day 1997, 2,608 out of 9,358 individuals screened for affective and anxiety disorders at 1,521 sites across the United States reported at least one PTSD symptom of at least 1 month's duration. Impairment, comorbid anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, and rates of suicidality were determined and compared for individuals with no, one, two, three, or four (full PTSD) symptoms on a screening questionnaire. Regression analyses examined the relative contribution of subthreshold PTSD and comorbid disorders to impairment and suicidal ideation. RESULTS: Impairment, number of comorbid disorders, rates of comorbid major depressive disorder, and current suicidal ideation increased linearly and significantly with each increasing number of subthreshold PTSD symptoms. Individuals with subthreshold PTSD were at greater risk for suicidal ideation even after the authors controlled for the presence of comorbid major depressive disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Higher numbers of subthreshold PTSD symptoms were associated with greater impairment, comorbidity, and suicidal ideation. Disability and impairment found in previous studies of subthreshold PTSD symptoms may be related in part to the presence of comorbid disorders. However, the presence of subthreshold PTSD symptoms significantly raised the risk for suicidal ideation even after the authors controlled for major depressive disorder. Given the broad public health implications of these findings, more efforts are needed to identify subthreshold PTSD symptoms in clinical populations, epidemiologic surveys, and treatment studies.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1176/appi.ajp.158.9.1467

Cites

36 of 36 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Marshall, R. D., Olfson, M., Hellman, F., Blanco, C., Guardino, M., & Struening, E. L.
Affiliations
New York State Psychiatric Institute (US)
Venue
American Journal of Psychiatry
Published
2001-09
Volume
158
Issue
9
Pages
1467-1473
ISSN
  • 0002-953X (ISSN-L)
  • 1535-7228
OpenAlex
W2130884708
Cited by
578
References
36
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 35 · 2014: 39 · 2013: 37 · 2012: 36
FWCI
20.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • American Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5k08mh001412-05)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (MH-15144, MH01412, T32MH015144)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
Keywords
posttraumatic stress symptoms, suicidal ideation, comorbidities, major depressive disorder, functional disability, disability, anxiety disorders
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Anxiety Disorders, Depressive Disorder, Female, Health Surveys, Humans, Life Change Events, Male, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Severity of Illness Index, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Suicide, United States, Comorbidity, Linear Models

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review