Because violent crime may produce persistent stress-related problems for many victims, it is important to determine what factors best predict development and persistence of stress-related problems. A study was conducted to examine the extent to which development and persistence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) could be predicted on the…

Crime victims and their problems have become the focus of considerable attention. In order to determine the effects of sexual assault versus other types of violent crime, and of completed crimes versus those attempted but not completed, 2,004 adult women (a response rate of 84.1%) completed telephone inteviews with female interviewers. Subjects…

Women (N=3,213) were interviewed initially, and again a year later, concerning childhood rape history, lifetime symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and lifetime alcohol use. Analysis found a history of childhood rape doubled the number of alcohol-abuse symptoms that women experienced in adulthood, suggesting that PTSD symptomatology…