Purpose of review: The aim of this review is to provide a summary of the current evidence pertaining to the course of acute and chronic posttraumatic stress, the diagnosis of acute stress disorder (ASD), and treatment of acute stress disorder and prevention of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Recent findings: Although acute stress disorder was introduced partly to predict subsequent PTSD, longitudinal studies indicate that ASD is not an accurate predictor of PTSD. Recent analytic approaches adopting latent growth mixture modeling have shown that trauma-exposed people tend to follow one of four trajectories: (a) resilient, (b) worsening, (c) recovery, and (d) chronically distressed. The complexity of the course of posttraumatic stress limits the capacity of the ASD diagnosis to predict subsequent PTSD. Current evidence indicates that the treatment of choice for ASD is trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy, and this intervention results in reduced chronic PTSD severity. Recent attempts to limit subsequent PTSD by early provision of pharmacological interventions have been promising, especially administration of corticosterone to modulate glucocorticoid levels. Although the ASD diagnosis does not accurately predict chronic PTSD, it describes recently trauma-exposed people with severe distress. Provision of CBT in the acute phase is the best available strategy to limit subsequent PTSD.
Keywords: Acute stress disorder; Posttraumatic stress; Trauma; Traumatic stress.
Visser E, Gosens T, Den Oudsten BL, De Vries J. Visser E, et al. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2017 Jun;82(6):1158-1183. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000001447. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2017. PMID: 28520689 Review.
Bryant RA, Mastrodomenico J, Felmingham KL, Hopwood S, Kenny L, Kandris E, Cahill C, Creamer M. Bryant RA, et al. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008 Jun;65(6):659-67. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.65.6.659. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008. PMID: 18519824 Clinical Trial.
Bryant RA, Creamer M, O'Donnell ML, Silove D, McFarlane AC. Bryant RA, et al. J Clin Psychiatry. 2008 Jun;69(6):923-9. doi: 10.4088/jcp.v69n0606. J Clin Psychiatry. 2008. PMID: 18422396
Bryant RA, Creamer M, O'Donnell M, Silove D, McFarlane AC, Forbes D. Bryant RA, et al. J Clin Psychiatry. 2015 Apr;76(4):391-7. doi: 10.4088/JCP.13m08731. J Clin Psychiatry. 2015. PMID: 25562379 Clinical Trial.
Ponniah K, Hollon SD. Ponniah K, et al. Depress Anxiety. 2009;26(12):1086-109. doi: 10.1002/da.20635. Depress Anxiety. 2009. PMID: 19957280 Review.
Feki R, Zouari L, Majdoub Y, Omri S, Gassara I, Smaoui N, Bouali MM, Ben Thabet J, Charfi N, Maalej M. Feki R, et al. Pan Afr Med J. 2024 Feb 26;47:89. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2024.47.89.38015. eCollection 2024. Pan Afr Med J. 2024. PMID: 38737217 Free PMC article. French.
Kordel P, Rządeczka M, Studenna-Skrukwa M, Kwiatkowska-Moskalewicz K, Goncharenko O, Moskalewicz M. Kordel P, et al. Front Public Health. 2024 Mar 14;12:1280236. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1280236. eCollection 2024. Front Public Health. 2024. PMID: 38550313 Free PMC article.
Du J, Diao H, Zhou X, Zhang C, Chen Y, Gao Y, Wang Y. Du J, et al. Med Rev (2021). 2022 Aug 2;2(3):219-243. doi: 10.1515/mr-2022-0012. eCollection 2022 Jun. Med Rev (2021). 2022. PMID: 37724188 Free PMC article. Review.
Portillo-Van Diest A, Vilagut G, Alayo I, Ferrer M, Amigo F, Amann BL, Aragón-Peña A, Aragonès E, Asúnsolo Del Barco Á, Campos M, Del Cura-González I, Espuga M, González-Pinto A, Haro JM, Larrauri A, López-Fresneña N, Martínez de Salázar A, Molina JD, Ortí-Lucas RM, Parellada M, Pelayo-Terán JM, Pérez-Zapata A, Pijoan JI, Plana N, Puig T, Rius C, Rodríguez-Blázquez C, Sanz F, Serra C, Urreta-Barallobre I, Kessler RC, Bruffaerts R, Vieta E, Pérez-Solá V, Alonso J, Mortier P; MINDCOVID Working Group. Portillo-Van Diest A, et al. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. 2023 Aug 9;32:e50. doi: 10.1017/S2045796023000628. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci. 2023. PMID: 37555258 Free PMC article.
Papini S, Norman SB, Campbell-Sills L, Sun X, He F, Kessler RC, Ursano RJ, Jain S, Stein MB. Papini S, et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Jun 1;6(6):e2321273. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.21273. JAMA Netw Open. 2023. PMID: 37389870 Free PMC article.
