More Intelligent Children May Have Reduced Risk Of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Filed in archive Studies on November 9, 2006

According to a report in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry (one of the JAMA/Archives journals), children who are more intelligent at age 6 may be less likely to experience trauma by age 17 and if they do, may be less likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological condition that occurs following exposure to a traumatic event: warfare, crime, a natural disaster or a life-threatening illness, with symptoms such as sleep problems, depression, flashbacks and anxiety.

According to the article, not every individual exposed to such an event will develop PTSD. Factors like gender, race and socioeconomic background may predispose individuals to experiencing trauma and also increase their risk of developing PTSD following exposure to trauma. These factors pose more importance than the type of severity of the trauma experienced in determining who will develop PTSD.

According to the study's authors:

"We observed in these data the sex-related pattern reported in previous studies, with males more likely to be exposed to trauma, and females more likely to experience PTSD following exposure. As in previous studies, the cumulative incidence of exposure to traumatic events was higher in inner-city (urban) youth than in suburban youth.

Individuals with high IQ were less prone to PTSD even if they had other factors, such as anxiety disorders and an urban background, stacked against them. The ways in which high IQ might protect from the PTSD effects of traumatic exposure are unclear."

Find more details from the full report.