The sub-work group collaborated with the Childhood and Adolescent Disorders Work Group to produce developmentally sensitive diagnostic criteria. Guest experts were often invited to participate in those discussions and to submit papers, data, or new data analyses to support their positions. The sub-work group undertook a number of comprehensive reviews of the empirical literature and discussed and debated them during twice-monthly two-hour teleconferences and several face-to-face meetings. In addition, approximately 50 PTSD experts were surveyed regarding their opinions on key issues such as Criterion A, the latent structure of PTSD, acute stress disorder (ASD), disorders of extreme stress not otherwise specified (DESNOS)/complex PTSD, and developmental, cultural, and forensic issues. We encouraged two professional societies, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, to provide feedback from their members through symposia, panel discussions, and workshops convened at their annual meetings.
To develop the preliminary proposed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) criteria that were posted online for public comment until April 20, the PTSD, Trauma, and Dissociative Disorders Sub-Work Group of the Anxiety Disorders Work Group for DSM-5 sought input from a wide variety of advisors and experts.