CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER-ALCOHOL ABUSE COMORBIDITY IN WOMEN

Trauma characteristics and symptoms were examined in 12 women diagnose d with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol abuse (AA), 13 women with PTSD only, and 22 controls. Participants served during the Vietnam era. Women completed diagnostic interviews and a questionnair e battery. Results showed that PTSD-AA women reported more childhood s exual abuse and sexual victimization during wartime service than the o ther two groups. Groups did not differ on other childhood trauma varia bles, nor on adult physical assault and traditional wartime stressor e xposure. PTSD-AA women reported more PTSD, dissociation, and borderlin e personality traits than the other two groups. These results suggest that trauma type, specifically sexual victimization across the life sp an, is an important factor in dual diagnosis in women, and that women with PTSD-AA have a particularly severe level of symptoms relative to women with only PTSD and controls.