This longitudinal study examined traumatic memory consistency over a 3-year period among a sample of highly traumatized Bosnian refugees, focusing on demographic factors, types of trauma, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. In 1996 and 1999, 376 Bosnian refugees were interviewed about 54 wartime trauma and torture events, and symptoms of PTSD and depression. Reports were compared for both time periods, and changed responses were analyzed for significance. Overall, there was consistency in reporting over time; when change occurred it was in the direction of decreased reports at follow-up. This downward trend was not associated with any particular diagnosis. However, PTSD alone, without comorbid symptoms of depression, was uniquely associated with the group that exhibited an upward trend. This implies that increased reporting is related specifically to the presence of PTSD symptoms, and that PTSD may be distinctly associated with the failed extinction of traumatic memories. © 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

Traumatic memories posttraumatic stress disorder Event reporting Depression

depression longitudinal study refugee memory demography Croatia Follow-Up Studies follow up human Longitudinal Studies Life Change Events comorbidity Refugees middle aged controlled study Time Factors Aged Depressive Disorder interview Bosnia-Herzegovina Humans Adolescent male female Psychiatric Status Rating Scales Psychometrics Article traumatic memory major clinical study adult posttraumatic stress disorder European Continental Ancestry Group Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic Torture