Abstract
Background
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most prevalent type of psychiatric disorder among children after an earthquake. This study investigated the role of trauma experiences, personality traits, and genotype in the maintenance of PTSD symptoms.
Methods
In a previous large-scale epidemiological investigation 1 year after the Wenchuan earthquake, 215 children with PTSD symptoms were selected at random with their blood samples collected. All of them were followed up, and their PTSD symptoms were assessed 3 years later. The adolescent version of the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index, the earthquake exposure scale, and the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire were used to determine PTSD symptoms, trauma experiences, and personality traits, respectively. We sequenced candidate genes involved in the regulation of long-term potentiation via NMDA-type receptors to identify the related SNP variations.
Results
Being trapped for a longer period of time, feeling one’s own or a family member’s life to be in danger, losing a close family member or friend, extraversion, neuroticism, TrkB, G72 and CNTF were found to be associated with the maintenance of PTSD symptoms.
Conclusions
Experiences, personality traits, and genotype influenced the maintenance of PTSD in child survivors who were considered to be followed up without medicine. This result could help to identify potential targets for treatment and promote the rational allocation of medical resources.
The role of rumination in posttraumatic stress disorder and posttraumatic growth among adolescents after the wenchuan earthquake