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Traumatic experiences are relatively common. More than two thirds of persons in the general population may experience a significant traumatic event at some point in their lives, and up to one fifth of people in the United States may experience such an event in any given year (1–5). Although comparable international data are limited, large proportions of populations in many countries have been exposed to terrorism, forced relocation, and violence, which suggests that the overall prevalence of exposure to traumatic events worldwide may be even higher than that in the United States (6, 7).

Disasters (eg, floods, transportation accidents) are traumatic events that are experienced by many people and may result in a wide range of mental and physical health consequences (8). In one survey of US residents, 13 percent of the sample reported a lifetime exposure to natural or human-generated disaster (9). In the National …