Sexual traumatic event exposure, posttraumatic stress symptomatology, and alcohol misuse among women: A critical review of the empirical literature.

This study investigated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms on Korean journalists and the contributing variables. Predicting variables included the exposure to traumatic events, coping strategy, social support, optimism, negative beliefs, and the journalists’ occupational perspectives. A total of 367 Korean journalists participated in the survey. The findings revealed that, first, Korean journalists had suffered severely from PTSD symptoms according to the prevalence rate. Second, the extent of traumatic event exposure, the length of career, the use of dysfunctional coping strategy, a lack of social support, and negative beliefs were identified as significantly related variables. Finally, occupational perspectives showed meaningful associations with development of the symptoms. This study provided an empirical analysis of Korean journalists’ experiences of traumatic events and psychological stress for the first time.

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A Population-Based Study of Familial and Individual-Specific Environmental Contributions to Traumatic Event Exposure and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in a Norwegian Twin Sample

Twin Research and Human Genetics ◽

10.1017/thg.2012.43 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 15 (5) ◽

pp. 656-662 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Ananda B. Amstadter ◽

Steven H. Aggen ◽

Gun Peggy Knudsen ◽

Ted Reichborn-Kjennerud ◽

Kenneth S. Kendler

Keyword(s):

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽

Posttraumatic Stress ◽

Stress Disorder ◽

Traumatic Event ◽

Trauma Exposure ◽

Population Based ◽

Ptsd Symptoms ◽

Familial Factors ◽

Best Fitting ◽

Traumatic Event Exposure

Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the only disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders that requires an environmental exposure. The relationship between liability factors for trauma exposure and those for PTSD symptoms following exposure are unclear. Methods: Exposure to a trauma and resulting PTSD symptoms were assessed in a sample of 2,794 members of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health Twin Panel. Results: In the full sample, 737 twins experienced a trauma. A modified causal, contingent, common pathway model was used to examine trauma exposure and liability for PTSD. Genetic and common environmental factors could not be distinguished, so a model that included only familial and individual specific components was fit. The best-fitting model suggested that familial factors played an important role in liability for trauma exposure and for resulting PTSD symptoms, and that there was a modest transmission between trauma exposure and subsequent PTSD symptoms. Conclusions: One third of the variance in liability of PTSD symptoms is due to familial factors, and of this, approximately one fifth overlaps with the familial liability for trauma exposure while the other four fifths of the variance is specific to the risk of PTSD symptoms following exposure. The hypothesis that PTSD is etiologically similar to exposures to a traumatic event is not supported, suggesting that the factors that confer risk for trauma do not overlap completely with those that confer risk for PTSD.

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