Past year and prior-to-past year diagnoses of PTSD were assessed in the Wave 2 NESARC. PTSD symptoms were assessed among individuals exposed to traumatic events in which both of the following had been present: (1) the person experienced, witnessed or was confronted with an event(s) that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury to the physical integrity of self or others; and (2) the person’s response involved intense fear. DSM-IV criteria for PTSD were assessed for the individual’s, self-reported, worst traumatic event. PTSD was diagnosed when all of the following criteria were present, for at least a month, following exposure to the worst traumatic event: (1) persistent re-experience of the event; (2) persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with trauma and numbing of general responsiveness (as indicated by three or more DSM-IV symptoms); and (3) persistent symptoms of increased arousal (as indicated by two or more DSM-IV PTSD symptoms). PTSD diagnoses required three or more of the seven DSM-IV dependence criteria in lifetime period. The NESARC asked 23 questions, one or two for each type of traumatic experience. Twenty-two questions
