Lifetime traumatic events and high-risk behaviors as predictors of PTSD symptoms in people with severe mental illnesses. Original manuscript received December 24, 2007. Final revision received April 2, 2009. Accepted May 12, 2009.

The paper under discussion covers the area of severe mental illnesses and deals with a problem of lifetime traumatic events and high-risk behaviors as predictors of PTSD symptoms. The key idea of the current study of community mental health clients suffering from SMI is to examine the relationships among primary Axis I diagnosis, frequency of lifetime traumatic or stressful events, and the mediating role of high-risk behaviors as predictors of PTSD symptom severity. The approach to the problem is based on bivariate analyses used to test the relationships among gender and diagnosis with lifetime events, high-risk behaviors, and PTSD symptom severity, but structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the effects of these factors on PTSD symptom severity as well as the mediating role of high-risk behaviors. Besides, a problem of the ability of clients with schizophrenia to recall traumatic events accurately is thoroughly considered. The results of laboratory studies on major mood disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder are analyzed in detail. Particular attention is given to the gender and primary mental health diagnosis (that is, SSDs and MMDs) with view to their influence on the SEM model. The data obtained are backed up by 2 figures given to illustrate the SEM models. The material presented can open new prospects for further research studies. It seems to be interesting to those who work in the field of severe mental illnesses.

Key words: severe mental illness; high-risk behaviors; structural equation modeling (SEM); major mood disorders; posttraumatic stress disorder;schizophrenia.