distress and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in abused women emotional distress and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder ptsd were examined among women in psychologically abusive relationships women n 93 were divided into three groups none moderate severe according to scores on the violence subscale of the severity of violence against women scales marshall 1992 all groups reported serious emotional distress on the symptom checklist 90revised derogatis 1983 dimensions eg more so than 93 of the nonclinical norm for global distress psychoticism was the highest subscale for all groups most women 56 suffered ptsd according to a subscale of the scl90 saunders arata kilpatrick 1990 difficulties with perception memory and motor functions cognitive failure more consistently predicted intrusive thoughts ptsd scores and attempted suicide than did womens attention to their inner thoughts and feelings private selfconsciousness which was important for the sample and the subgroup that had sustained severe violence limitations and contributions are discussed as are different uses for conservative and inclusive measures of ptsd