Posttraumatic stress disorder among adults in Canada:
- Last updated: 2024-05-07
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Results from the Survey on Mental Health and Stressful Events (cycle 1).
Cycle 1 Data (August-December 2021):
Download all tables, including 95% confidence intervals in .csv formatTable 1. Proportion (%) reporting each type of PPTE, Canada (August – December 2021)
| Potentially psychologically traumatic event (PPTE) type* | Proportion† |
|---|---|
| Transportation accident (e.g., car accident, boat accident, train wreck, plane crash) | 35.3 |
| Physical assault (e.g., being attacked, hit, slapped, kicked, beaten up) | 18.5 |
| Life-threatening illness or injury | 18.4 |
| Natural disaster (e.g., flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake) | 16.4 |
| Other unwanted or uncomfortable sexual experience | 15.1 |
| Sudden accidental death | 15.0 |
| Serious accident at work, home, during recreational activity | 13.7 |
| Fire or explosion | 10.4 |
| Sudden violent death (homicide, suicide) | 10.2 |
| Sexual assault (e.g., rape, attempted rape, made to perform any type of sexual act through force or threat of harm) | 10.0 |
| Severe human suffering | 6.9 |
| Assault with a weapon (e.g., being shot, stabbed, threatened with a knife, gun, bomb) | 5.9 |
| Exposure to a toxic substance (e.g., dangerous chemicals, radiation) | 5.0 |
| Combat or exposure to war-zone (military or as a civilian) | 2.6 |
| Serious injury, harm, or death you caused to someone else | 1.7 |
| Captivity | 1.1 |
| Other very stressful event or experience‡ | 17.7 |
* Respondents were asked to “include events that happened to you directly, events that you witnessed, events that you learned about that happened to a close family member or a close friend, and events that you were repeatedly exposed to details about it as part of your job.”
† Categories are not mutually exclusive (i.e., respondents were able to report experiencing more than one type of event) and therefore the proportions of respondents experiencing individual event types will not add to 100.
‡ Respondents were given the option to write in a response for this category (frequent responses included ‘abuse/harassment’, ‘separation/divorce’, and ‘death of a loved one’).
Table 2. Proportion (%) screening positive for PTSD, and self-reported current and lifetime diagnosis of PTSD, by gender*, Canada (August – December 2021)
| Age group (years) | Gender* | Positive screen for PTSD† | Self-reported current diagnosis of PTSD‡ | Self-reported lifetime diagnosis of PTSD‡ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All age groups, 18+ | Men and women | 8.0 | 5.4 | 6.8 |
| Men | 5.7 | 3.8 | 4.7 | |
| Women | 10.2 | 7.1 | 9.0 | |
| 18-24 | Men and women | 13.6 | 4.9 | 5.7 |
| Men | 7.3 | 2.5 | 3.2 | |
| Women | 20.4 | 7.6 | 8.5 | |
| 25-34 | Men and women | 9.7 | 6.2 | 6.8 |
| Men | 5.6 | 3.8 | 4.2 | |
| Women | 13.9 | 8.6 | 9.5 | |
| 35-44 | Men and women | 9.2 | 6.8 | 8.5 |
| Men | 6.6 | 3.8 | 4.8 | |
| Women | 11.7 | 9.8 | 12.1 | |
| 45-54 | Men and women | 9.3 | 6.2 | 8.0 |
| Men | 7.0 | 4.2 | 4.9 | |
| Women | 11.6 | 8.1 | 11.2 | |
| 55-64 | Men and women | 6.9 | 6.5 | 8.3 |
| Men | 6.7 | 5.9 | 7.4 | |
| Women | 7.0 | 7.1 | 9.2 | |
| 65+ | Men and women | 3.3 | 2.7 | 3.9 |
| Men | 2.6 | 2.3 | 3.3 | |
| Women | 3.9 | 3.0 | 4.5 |
* Respondents were also given the option to report a gender identity other than man or woman. Those who did so were excluded from all analyses for confidentiality reasons.
† A positive screen for PTSD was defined as a score greater than 32 on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5).
‡ Self-reported diagnosis of PTSD was derived from a question on the SMHSE asking about conditions that were diagnosed by a healthcare professional and had lasted or were expected to last 6 months or more. Those with a current diagnosis reported having a diagnosis at the time of the survey, while those with a lifetime diagnosis reported ever having a diagnosis.
Table 3. Proportion (%) screening positive for PTSD, by sociodemographic characteristics, Canada (August – December 2021)
| Group | Response category | Positive screen for PTSD* |
|---|---|---|
| Total household income | Lowest income third | 9.9 |
| Middle income third | 7.5 | |
| Highest income third | 7.0 | |
| Education | High school or less | 8.9 |
| More than high school; less than university | 9.1 | |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 6.4 | |
| Marital status | Married or living common law | 6.0 |
| Never married (not living common law) | 12.1 | |
| Separated, divorced, or widowed | 10.2 | |
| Type of residence | Urban area | 8.2 |
| Rural area | 7.3 | |
| Immigrant status | Immigrant | 5.3 |
| Non-immigrant | 9.0 |
* A positive screen for PTSD was defined as a score greater than 32 on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5).
Table 4. Proportion (%) screening positive for PTSD, by health- or mental health-related variables, Canada (August – December 2021)
| Health- or mental health-related variable | Response category | Positive screen for PTSD* |
|---|---|---|
| General health | Excellent, very good or good | 5.8 |
| Fair or poor | 22.7 | |
| General mental health | Excellent, very good or good | 2.9 |
| Fair or poor | 28.9 | |
| Current diagnosis of a mood disorder† | Yes | 33.0 |
| No | 4.2 | |
| Current diagnosis of an anxiety disorder† | Yes | 29.7 |
| No | 4.2 | |
| Current diagnosis of a mood and/or anxiety disorder† | Yes | 26.8 |
| No | 3.2 | |
| Screened positive for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)‡ | Yes | 33.6 |
| No | 2.6 | |
| Screened positive for major depressive disorder (MDD)‡ | Yes | 38.1 |
| No | 3.1 | |
| Heavy drinking in the past month§ | Daily or almost daily | 18.4 |
| Less than daily | 8.8 | |
| None | 6.0 | |
| Cannabis use in the past month | Daily | 24.4 |
| Less than daily | 13.9 | |
| None | 6.3 | |
| Has ever seriously contemplated suicide | Yes | 26.1 |
| No | 4.5 | |
| Social support** | High | 5.4 |
| Low | 25.6 |
* A positive screen for PTSD was defined as a score greater than 32 on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5).
† Respondents in the SMHSE were asked about conditions that had been diagnosed by a health professional that had already lasted, or were expected to last, 6 months or more. As part of these questions, respondents were asked if they had a mood disorder and if they had an anxiety disorder.
‡ Screening positive for GAD and MDD was defined as a score of 3 or higher on 2-item versions of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-2)Footnote 1 and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2),Footnote 2 respectively, which measure symptoms of GAD and MDD over the past two weeks.
§ Heavy drinking was defined as 4+ alcoholic drinks for women and 5+ alcoholic drinks for men in one sitting.
** A mean score of 3 or higher across the 10 items of the short form of the Social Provisions Scale (SPS)Footnote 3 was considered to indicate high social support and a mean score of 2 or lower was considered to indicate low social support.
Table 5. Proportion (%) screening positive for PTSD, by type of PPTE, Canada (August – December 2021)
| Potentially psychologically traumatic event (PPTE) type* | Positive screen for PTSD† |
|---|---|
| Captivity (e.g., being kidnapped, abducted, held hostage, prisoner of war) | 37.2 |
| Sexual assault (e.g., rape, attempted rape, made to perform any type of sexual act through force or threat of harm) | 28.9 |
| Serious injury, harm or death you caused to someone else | 28.4 |
| Severe human suffering | 22.1 |
| Assault with a weapon (e.g., being shot, stabbed, threatened with a knife, gun, bomb) | 21.6 |
| Other unwanted or uncomfortable sexual experience | 21.6 |
| Physical assault (e.g., being attacked, hit, slapped, kicked, beaten up) | 20.4 |
| Exposure to toxic substance (e.g., dangerous chemicals, radiation) | 15.8 |
| Sudden violent death | 15.2 |
| Life-threatening illness or injury | 14.0 |
| Combat or exposure to a war-zone (military or as a civilian) | 13.9 |
| Sudden accidental death | 13.8 |
| Serious accident at work, home, during recreational activity | 13.3 |
| Fire or explosion | 12.6 |
| Transportation accident (e.g., car accident, boar accident, train wreck, plane crash) | 10.6 |
| Natural disaster (e.g., flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake) | 9.6 |
| Other very stressful event or experience‡ | 24.1 |
* Respondents were asked to "include events that happened to you directly, events that you witnessed, events that you learned about that happened to a close family member or a close friend, and events that you were repeatedly exposed to details about it as part of your job".
† A positive screen for PTSD was defined as a score greater than 32 on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5).
‡ Respondents were given the option to write in a response for this category (frequent responses included ‘abuse/harassment’, ‘separation/divorce’, ‘death of a loved one’).
Technical notes
Potentially psychologically traumatic events (PPTEs) were assessed with a modified version of the Life Events Checklist (LEC-5).Footnote 4 Respondents were asked if they had directly or indirectly experienced each of a list of 17 PPTEs in their lifetime. Those who had experienced at least one PPTE were then asked about symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) based on the PPTE they identified as the worst they ever experienced.
Screening positive for PTSD means scoring higher than 32 (out of 80) on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5),Footnote5 indicating moderate to severe symptoms of PTSD in the past month. While a diagnosis of PTSD requires a trained and licensed clinician, a validated screening tool such as the PCL-5 can identify individuals who may have PTSD but would need further assessment to confirm a diagnosis.
Respondents in the Survey on Mental Health and Stressful Events (SMHSE) were asked about conditions, including PTSD, that had been diagnosed by a health professional that had already lasted, or were expected to last, 6 months or more. A current diagnosis of PTSD means the individual currently has a PTSD diagnosis and a lifetime diagnosis of PTSD means the individual either currently has a PTSD diagnosis or had a PTSD diagnosis at some time in the past.
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