Da. Brent et al., POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER IN PEERS OF ADOLESCENT SUICIDE VICTIMS - PREDISPOSING FACTORS AND PHENOMENOLOGY, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(2), 1995, pp. 209-215
Objective: To examine the factors predisposing to posttraumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) in peers of adolescent suicide victims. Method: One h
undred forty-six adolescents who were the friends of 26 suicide victim
s were studied. Five percent (n = 8) developed PTSD after exposure to
suicide. These 8 subjects with PTSD were compared to the remainder of
the exposed subjects (n = 138). Results: Subjects with PTSD were more
likely than those without PTSD to have had a history of substance abus
e, agoraphobia, and suicide attempts. Subjects who developed PTSD were
more likely to have developed a new-onset depression, to have more se
vere grief, and to have been closer to the suicide victim. Subjects wi
th PTSD tended to have more severe exposure to suicide and came from d
iscordant households with a history of disruptions in key relationship
s. The 8 subjects who developed PTSD were compared to 38 subjects who
developed new-onset depression but not PTSD. Those with PTSD were more
likely to have had past substance abuse, prior suicide attempts, fami
ly history of panic disorder, a history of parent-child disruption, an
d a history of loss. Symptoms of intrusive visual images, hypervigilan
ce, and avoidance of reminders discriminated subjects who had PTSD fro
m new-onset depressives without PTSD. Conclusions: PTSD is an expectab
le outcome in youth exposed to suicide. Further work is required to di
fferentiate symptoms of depression from PTSD.