PTSD Rates Higher in Women

An review of 290 studies on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) published in the American Psychological Associations Psychological Bulletin shows that women are about twice as likely than men to meet diagnostic criteria for the disorder.

Women were not found to be at an increased risk for potentially traumatic events (PTEs) however, but there were differences in the type of PTEs experienced between the sexes: Women were more likely to have experienced sexual assault and child abuse, but less likely to have experienced non-sexual assault, combat, accidents and disaster or to have witnessed death or injury. However, even among men and women who had experienced the same type of PTE, women were found to have elevated rates of PTSD.

Researchers believe this difference may be due to differences in the experiences of respective traumas between the sexes (overall men experience more severe combat exposure while women are more likely to receive serious injuries as a result of nonsexual assault and to be threatened physically during childhood sexual abuse), but also cite current diagnostic criteria which may not wholly reflect men's experience of PTSD. It was also suggested that women are likely to experience more trauma over a lifetime, adding to the risk of developing the disorder.

FULL TEXT: Sex Differences in Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Quantitative Review of 25 Years of Research (PDF)