The assumption that the influence of predispositions on PTSD varies inversely according to trauma severity has received no direct empirical test in which the effects of specific predispositions are compared between event types in the same study. Clues that this core assumption might not survive a standard scientific test, reported in a frequently cited meta-analysis by Ozer et al. (2003), have gone unnoticed, to our knowledge. The goal of the meta-analysis was to estimate the effect size of seven risk factors for PTSD and symptoms of PTSD. Trauma type (severity) was not one of them. Instead, trauma type was a modifier of the effect of risk factors on PTSD. Ozer et al. (2003) estimated the effects of antecedent risk factors according to two event types: (1) interpersonal violence (i.e. human-perpetrated violence that occurred in a civilian context, e.g. assault, rape, domestic violence); and (2) accidents. (Combat was a third event type but is not included in this summary.) Three antecedent risk factors were considered: (1) prior trauma; (2) prior psychological adjustment; and (3) family history of psychopathology. (Other risk factors
