Risk and preventive factors of post-traumatic stress disorder and its co-morbid disorders

A combination of various pre- (female sex, previous traumas and a past history of psychiatric disorders), peri- (control attribution, the horror of the traumatic event, the threat to one's own life, alcohol consumption and intoxication) and post-exposure (physical injuries due to the trauma and subsequent hospitalization) predictors determine the rate of developing post-traumatic stress disorder. Female sex, the number of previous traumata, a past history of simple phobia, threatened death, trauma exposure, hospitalization for trauma-induced injuries increases the odds of post-traumatic stress disorder, whereas a sense of control during the trauma, and alcohol consumption and intoxication decreases the odds of posttraumatic stress disorder, Major depression and anxiety disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder and agoraphobia, commonly occur in response to accidental manmade traumatic events. The extent of physical injury, sex, age, loss of control, type of trauma, and the degree of exposure to the traumatic event partly determine the occurrence of these comorbid disorders, This suggests that trauma variables, which are related to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder, are also related to the occurrence of these co-morbid disorders. Curr Opin Psychiatry 13:587-589. (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.