POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER IN PEERS OF ADOLESCENT SUICIDE VICTIMS - PREDISPOSING FACTORS AND PHENOMENOLOGY

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.