TRAUMATIC EVENTS AND POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER IN COCAINE USERS ENTERING PRIVATE TREATMENT

We investigated traumatic events, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD ), and psychiatric comorbidity in 450 men and women entering private, hospital-based treatments for cocaine dependence. Overall prevalence o f event exposure was the same for women and men; however, women were a pproximately five times more likely than men to be diagnosed with life time and current PTSD. Women experienced more PTSD than men even when exposed to the same type of event. In most subjects with PTSD, onset o f the disorder preceded onset of cocaine dependence. Subjects with PTS D were more likely than those without PTSD to have additional co-occur ring mental disorders. Findings from this relatively affluent, private ly treated sample suggest that PTSD and cocaine dependence are related , independent of patients' resources. They further indicate that the r elationship between gender and PTSD is robust across patient populatio ns. More complex examinations of PTSD, cocaine dependence, and gender are needed to better understand these relationships and to design effe ctive interventions. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.