Secondary traumatic stress has been documented in the spouses of veterans with PTSD from Vietnam. And the spouses of Israeli veterans with PTSD, and Dutch veterans with PTSD.

-This is an example of a factual claim. The author is supporting their idea about secondary traumatic stress with the factual claim that secondary traumatic stress HAS been documented in the spouses of the veterans.

In one study, the incidence of secondary trauma in wives of Croatian war vets with PTSD was 30 percent. In another study there, it was 39 percent.

-This is an example of a Numerical Claim. This claim is referring to the percentage of secondary trauma in wives of Croatian vets with PTSD.

-Inside this statement, there is also a causal claim, stating that having a husband with PTSD can cause secondary trauma

“Trauma is really not something that happens to an individual,” says Robert Motta, a clinical psychologist and psychology professor at Hofstra University who wrote a few of the many medical-journal articles about secondary trauma in Vietnam vets’ families. 

– This is a definition claim. Motta was attempting to define what PTSD is and how it affects people.

-Motta begins to go into a categorical claim also. He is inferring that PTSD is actually something that affects the people around them as well.

“Trauma is a contagious disease; it affects everyone that has close contact with a traumatized person” in some form or another, to varying degrees and for different lengths of time. 

-This section is a categorical claim, Motta groups PTSD into the category of contagious disorders and diseases.

– It also includes a quantitative claim, claiming that depending on the amount of time you spend with a person with PTSD, your likelihood of having symptoms are greater or lower.

“Everyone” includes children. Which is something Brannan and Caleb lose not a little sleep over, since they’ve got a six-year-old in the house.

-This is an example of an evaluative claim. The author of this article is evaluating Brannan and Caleb’s feelings on how their symptoms of ptsd and secondary trauma affect their daughter, Katie. The next paragraph went on to give an example of how Kati’s behavior has been affected by her parents.