By Carolyn Susman, Cox News Service
December 28, 2004

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Males are nearly twice as likely as females to be assaulted between first grade and the age of 21, but females who've endured such trauma are three times likelier to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a study in December's Journal of Urban Health.

Researchers led by Dr. Naomi Breslau of Michigan State University recruited 2,311 high-risk youths in the mid-1980s as they entered first grade in 19 public schools in a large mid-Atlantic city. Nearly 75 percent were re-recruited around age 21 and were interviewed about their history of trauma and PTSD.

Sixty-two percent of males said they had experienced assaultive violence - including being shot, stabbed, badly beaten, mugged, threatened with a weapon, raped, sexually assaulted or kidnapped.

While 33.7 percent of females had these experiences, their PTSD risk was more than three times higher than in males (23.5 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively) after an assault. Females' PTSD risk remained higher (12.7 percent) than males' (4.7 percent) even after excluding rape and other sexual assault.

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