Prevalence of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Trauma Symptoms in a General Population Sample

Prevalence of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Trauma-related Symptoms in a Sample of Healthy Controls in the Barcelona Region of Catalonia, Spain

The goal of this observational study is to learn about how many people have post-traumatic stress disorder and related symptoms in the general population of people without any mental illness in the Barcelona region of Catalonia, Spain. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• What is the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in a sample of healthy controls without other mental disorders?
• What is the prevalence of trauma-related symptoms in a sample of healthy controls without mental illness?
• What is the prevalence of dissociative symptoms (including symptoms of depersonalisation and somatoform dissociation) in a sample of healthy controls without mental illness?
• What is the prevalence of recent and childhood traumatic life events in a sample of healthy controls without mental illness?
• What is the prevalence of difficulties in psychosocial functioning in healthy controls without mental illness?
• What is the prevalence of depressive symptoms in healthy controls without mental illness?
• What is the prevalence of general psychiatric symptoms in healthy controls without mental illness? Participants will be asked to take part in an online screening programme, and then to come to an interview with a clinician who will apply validated scales to test the above.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder; Psychological Trauma
• Intervention / Treatment: Diagnostic test: Assessment for exposure to psychological trauma and related symptoms

Detailed Description

This is a study to provide normative data for the prevalence of traumatic life events, post-traumatic stress disorder and trauma-related symptoms, and their impact on psychosocial functioning, and affective symptoms in healthy controls (i.e. without mental illness) in the Barcelona region of Catalonia, Spain.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 50

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Alicia Valiente-Gómez, PhD; Phone Number: 8403 933268500; Email: avaliente@psmar.cat
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Bridget Hogg; Phone Number: 8403 933268500; Email: bhogg@imim.es

Study Locations

• Spain
  • Barcelona, Spain, 08019
    • Recruiting
    • Alicia Valiente
    • Contact: Alicia Valiente; Phone Number: 8403 393268500; Email: avaliente@psmar.cat

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy adult controls without mental disorder from the Barcelona region of Catalonia, Spain.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• to be an adult (18-65 years inclusive)

Exclusion Criteria:

• to have a mental disorder except for post-traumatic stress disorder, determined by application of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI)
• active suicidal ideation
• presence of organic brain disease
• presence of somatic diseases such as fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome
• presence of autoimmune diseases such as HIV or AIDS

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Ecologic or Community
• Time Perspectives: Cross-Sectional

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Healthy Controls; Healthy controls without mental disorder in the general population of the Barcelona area of Catalonia, Spain to be assessed for exposure to traumatic life events, post-traumatic stress disorder, trauma symptoms, dissociative symptoms, affective symptoms, and psychosocial functioning.	Diagnostic test: Assessment for exposure to psychological trauma and related symptoms; To be assessed for exposure to traumatic life events, post-traumatic stress disorder, trauma-related symptoms, dissociative symptoms, affective symptoms, and psychosocial functioning.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in a sample of healthy controls without mental disorder	Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder according to criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - 5th Edition, as per the Global Evaluation of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Scale (EGEP-5), which assesses the presence or absence of post-traumatic stress disorder.	cross-sectional, baseline
Prevalence of trauma symptoms in a sample of healthy controls without mental disorder	Prevalence of trauma-related symptoms according to the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), which is scored on a Likert scale with a maximum score of 110, with higher scores meaning a greater level of trauma symptoms.	cross-sectional, baseline
Prevalence of dissociative symptoms in a sample of healthy controls without mental disorder	Prevalence of dissociative symptoms according to the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). The final score is out of 100, with higher scores meaning a greater number of symptoms.	cross-sectional, baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Prevalence of depressive symptoms in a sample of healthy controls without mental disorder	Prevalence of depressive symptoms according to the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), which can provide a total score between 0 and 63, with higher scores meaning greater depressive symptoms.	cross-sectional, baseline
Prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in a sample of healthy controls without mental disorder	Prevalence of psychiatric symptoms according to the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). The first 18 items on this scale provide a total score from 0 to 146, with higher scores signifying more severe psychiatric symptoms, while item 19 provides an estimate of severity of illness on a Likert scale from 1 to 7.	cross-sectional, baseline
Prevalence of symptoms of somatoform dissociation in a sample of healthy controls without mental disorder	Prevalence of symptoms of somatoform dissociation according to the Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ-20). Each item is scored on a Likert scale from 1 to 5, up to a total score of 100. Higher scores denote more somatoform symptoms.	cross-sectional, baseline
Prevalence of depersonalisation dissociative symptoms in a sample of healthy controls without mental disorder	Prevalence of depersonalisation dissociative symptoms according to the Cambridge Depersonalisation Scale. Each item is scored for frequency (0 to 4) and duration (1 to 6), and these scores are summed together to create a total score. Higher scores indicate greater levels of dissociative symptoms.	cross-sectional, baseline
Prevalence of difficulties in psychosocial functioning in a sample of healthy controls without mental disorder	Prevalence of difficulties in psychosocial functioning according to the Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST). Each item on this scale is scored on a Likert scale of 0 to 3, providing a total score between 0 and 72. Higher scores indicate a greater degree of difficulty in functioning.	cross-sectional, baseline
Prevalence of childhood trauma events (physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, and physical or emotional neglect) in a sample of healthy controls without mental disorder	Prevalence of childhood trauma experiences according to the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). This scale provides a score for each subscale of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, and physical or emotional neglect, with scores categorised as ranging from none to severe.	cross-sectional, baseline
Prevalence of recent stressful life events in a sample of healthy controls without mental disorder	Prevalence of recent stressful life events in the previous year according to the Social Readjustment Rating Scale (Holmes & Rahe). This scale provides the number of stressful events. Each event has a weighted score which is summed to create a total score, with higher scores signifying a greater risk of stress-related illness.	cross-sectional, baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Parc de Salut Mar

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 28, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): March 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 21, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 9, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): January 10, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): November 16, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 15, 2023
• Last Verified: December 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: post-traumatic stress disorder; psychological trauma; healthy controls
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Stress Disorders, Traumatic; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Wounds and Injuries; Psychological Trauma
• Other Study ID Numbers: CS01

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No