PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Males have more traumatic events, yet females are more likely to meet diagnostic criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, says a U.S. study.
David F. Tolin, of the Institute of Living, and Edna B. Foa, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, found that female study participants were more likely than male study participants to have experienced sexual assault and child sexual abuse, but less likely to have experienced accidents, non-sexual assaults, witness death or injury, disaster or fire and combat or war.
Sexual trauma may cause more emotional suffering and is more likely to contribute to a PTSD diagnosis than other types of trauma, according to Tolin.
However, women's higher PTSD rates were not solely attributable to their higher risk for adult sexual assault and child sexual abuse, explained Tolin. PTSD rates were still higher for women even when both sexes were compared on the same type of trauma, according to the review published in the Psychological Bulletin.
"PTSD may be diagnosed more in women in part because of the criteria used to define it. Cognitive and emotional responses to traumatic events make a diagnosis of PTSD more likely, said Tolin and Foa. "So even though men may experience more traumas, they don't seem to have the same emotional responses to traumatic events."
