Violence and risk of PTSD, major depression, substance abuse/dependence, and comorbidity: results from the National Survey of Adolescents

Abstract

With a national household probability sample of 4,023 telephone-interviewed adolescents ages 12-17, this study provides prevalence, comorbidity, and risk-factor data for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive episode (MDE), and substance abuse/dependence (SA/D). Roughly 16% of boys and 19% of girls met criteria for at least 1 diagnosis. Six-month PTSD prevalence was 3.7% for boys and 6.3% for girls, 6-month MDE prevalence was 7.4% for boys and 13.9% for girls, and 12-month SA/D prevalence was 8.2% for boys and 6.2% for girls. PTSD was more likely to be comorbid than were MDE and SA/D. Results generally support the hypothesis that exposure to interpersonal violence (i.e., physical assault, sexual assault, or witnessed violence) increases the risk of these disorders and of diagnostic comorbidity.