Citation

Koenen KC, Widom CS. J. Trauma. Stress 2009; 22(6): 566-574.

Affiliation

Departments of Society, Human Development, and Health and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jts.20478

PMID

19937646

PMCID

PMC3108182

Abstract

In the general population, women's lifetime risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is twice that of men's. However, evidence is contradictory as to whether this sex difference is present among child abuse/neglect victims. The authors examined sex differences in PTSD among a sample of 674 individuals with documented child abuse/neglect histories assessed for PTSD in adulthood. Across all types of abuse/neglect, women were more than twice as likely to develop PTSD as men. The sex difference was greatest among sexual abuse victims. Female victims' greater revictimization explained a substantial proportion (39%) of the sex differences in PTSD risk. Future research should identify mechanisms that make female victims particularly vulnerable to revictimization and the development of PTSD.

Language: en