Abstract:
Exposure to multiple traumas, particularly in childhood, has been proposed to result in a complex of symptoms
that includes posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as a constrained, but variable group of symptoms
that highlight self-regulatory disturbances. The relationship between accumulated exposure to different types of
traumatic events and total number of different types of symptoms (symptom complexity) was assessed in an adult
clinical sample (N = 582) and a child clinical sample (N = 152). Childhood cumulative trauma but not
adulthood trauma predicted increasing symptom complexity in adults. Cumulative trauma predicted increasing
symptom complexity in the child sample. Results suggest that Complex PTSD symptoms occur in both adult and
child samples in a principled, rule-governed way and that childhood experiences significantly influenced adult
symptoms.