Interpersonal trauma

Last updated July 18, 2025

Interpersonal trauma is psychological trauma as a result of interactions between people. It can result in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Chronic, sustained interpersonal trauma can result in complex post-traumatic stress disorder, which has both symptoms of PTSD and also problems in developmental areas such as emotional self-regulation and interpersonal functioning.^[1] More than half of the incidents causing interpersonal trauma happen to children and teenagers.^[1]

Common categories

Child abuse ^[1]^[2]
Child neglect ^[1]^[2]
Child sexual abuse ^[2]
Intimate partner violence ^[2]
Infidelity, leading to Post infidelity stress disorder ^[3]
Sexual assault ^[1]^[2]
Community violence ^[2] (witnessing or being victimized by intentional violence outside the home)
Physical assault ^[1]
Human trafficking ^[2]
Historical trauma ^[2]
Combat-related trauma ^[1]

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cloitre, Marylène (2020). Treating survivors of childhood abuse and interpersonal trauma: STAIR narrative therapy (Second ed.). New York, NY. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-4625-4328-1. OCLC 1142041269.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gerber, Megan R. (2019-04-12). Trauma-Informed Healthcare Approaches: A Guide for Primary Care. Springer. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-3-030-04342-1.
↑ Ortman, DC (October 2005). "Post-infidelity stress disorder". Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services. 43 (10): 46–54. doi:10.3928/02793695-20051001-06. PMID 16294837.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[:1-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cloitre, Marylène (2020). Treating survivors of childhood abuse and interpersonal trauma: STAIR narrative therapy (Second ed.). New York, NY. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-4625-4328-1. OCLC 1142041269.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[:0-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gerber, Megan R. (2019-04-12). Trauma-Informed Healthcare Approaches: A Guide for Primary Care. Springer. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-3-030-04342-1.

[3] Ortman, DC (October 2005). "Post-infidelity stress disorder". Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services. 43 (10): 46–54. doi:10.3928/02793695-20051001-06. PMID 16294837.

[1]

[2]

[3]