An earlier report compared AI-SUPERPFP trauma rates to those of the baseline NCS [6]. Since NCS predated DSM-IV, that analysis did not focus solely on qualifying traumas but rather general trauma exposure. Almost two-thirds of the AI-SUPERPFP sample reported lifetime trauma exposure, with these rates falling in the upper range reported for U.S. men and being higher than for U.S. women [6]. With respect to specific traumas, AI-SUPERPFP participants exhibited higher rates of exposure for witnessed trauma, trauma to someone close, and interpersonal trauma; among American Indian women, rates of sexual assault also were higher than those of their NCS counterparts. Both AI-SUPERPFP and NCS results contrast with those of Breslau and colleagues, who reported trauma exposure rates of 90% in the Detroit Area Study of Trauma (DAST) [2]. The difference in observed rates is likely entirely due to Breslau's inclusion of the sudden unexpected death of a close other in the list of potential traumas, as is allowed under DSM-IV [1]. Over 60% of their sample endorsed this trauma alone [2]. Had AI-SUPERPFP included this event among traumas, no doubt both the trauma and PTSD prevalence rates would have been higher.
