A Review of Current Evidence Regarding the ICD-11 Proposals for Diagnosing PTSD and Complex PTSD


Brewin, CR.; Cloitre, M.; Hyland, P.; Shevlin, M.; Maercker, A.; Bryant, RA.; Humayun, A.; Jones, LM.; Kagee, A.; Rousseau, C.; Somasundaram, D.; Suzuki, Y.; Wessely, S.; van Ommeren, M.; Reed, GM. (2017)
Journal of Clinical Psychology Review
58 | p.1-15

The World Health Organization’s proposals for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases, scheduled for release in 2018, involve a very brief set of symptoms and a distinction between two sibling disorders, PTSD and Complex PTSD. This review of studies conducted to test the validity and implications of the diagnostic proposals generally supports the proposed 3-factor structure of PTSD symptoms, the 6-factor structure of Complex PTSD symptoms, and the distinction between PTSD and Complex PTSD. Estimates derived from DSM-based items suggest the likely prevalence of ICD-11 PTSD in adults is lower than ICD-10 PTSD and lower than DSM-IV or DSM-5 PTSD, but this may change with the development of items that directly measure the ICD-11 re-experiencing requirement. Preliminary evidence suggests the prevalence of ICD-11 PTSD in community samples of children and adolescents is similar to DSM-IV and DSM-5. ICD-11 PTSD detects some individuals with significant impairment who would not receive a diagnosis under DSM-IV or DSM-5. ICD-11 CPTSD identifies a distinct group who have more often experienced multiple and sustained traumas and have greater functional impairment than those with PTSD.