Twenty years of trauma:Psychological Abstracts 1970 through 1989

The present study represents an objective assessment of the growth in trauma literature, and of the thematic trends which have been part of its historical evolution. For these purposes a systematic, manual search ofPsychological Abstracts from 1970 to 1990 was conducted to identify literature on trauma-related topics. Fifteen hundred and ninety-six (1596) citations between 1970–1990 were identified, and a trend showing increasing numbers of trauma publications was in evidence. This increase was most apparent in literature involving war- and sexual abuse-related traumatization, but not in publications about natural and technological disaster. These findings reflect a dynamic and growing field, and will provide an important benchmark for assessing the changing status of the PTSD literature.