One lifetime occurrence of one reported TE type was selected randomly for each respondent for more detailed assessment. Once this occurrence was selected, a short set of TE-specific questions was asked about characteristics of the randomly selected TE. PTSD in the wake of that occurrence was then assessed. The TE question about natural disasters was ‘Were you ever involved in a major natural disaster, like a devastating flood, hurricane, or earthquake?’ The comparable question for human-made disasters was ‘Were you ever in a man-made disaster, like a fire started by a cigarette, or a bomb explosion?’ When either of these was the randomly selected TE, four additional TE-specific questions were asked: whether the respondent was seriously injured in the disaster; whether the respondent was displaced (i.e. forced to leave their home) by the disaster; whether anyone close to the respondent was seriously injured or died in the disaster; and whether the respondent witnessed anyone die during the disaster.
