Risk factors

The following groups of people are at an increased risk of developing PTSD:

• victims of violent crime e.g. physical and sexual assaults/abuse, bombings, riots
• people engaged in the armed forces, police, journalists and prison service, fire service, ambulance and emergency personnel, including those no longer in service
• victims of war, torture, state-sanctioned violence or terrorism, and refugees
• survivors of accidents and disasters
• women following traumatic childbirth,
• individuals diagnosed with a life-threatening illness (1)

Factors associated with post-traumatic stress disorder include:

• pre-traumatic factors
  • previous psychiatric disorder
  • sex (more prevalent in female patients than in male patients)
  • personality (external locus of control greater than internal locus of control)
  • lower socioeconomic status
  • lack of education
  • race (minority status)
  • previous trauma
  • family history of psychiatric disorders
• peri-traumatic factors
  • severity of trauma
  • perceived threat to life
  • peritraumatic emotions
  • peritraumatic dissociation
• post-traumatic factors
  • absence of social support
  • subsequent life stress (2)

Factors occurring during or after the trauma are associated with stronger effects than pre-traumatic factors (3).

Reference

1. NICE. Post-traumatic stress disorder. NICE guideline NG116. Published December 2018, last reviewed April 2025
2. Miao XR, Chen QB, Wei K, et al; Posttraumatic stress disorder: from diagnosis to prevention. Mil Med Res. 2018 Sep 28;5(1):32.
3. Brewin CR, Andrews B, Valentine JD. Meta-analysis of risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2000 Oct;68(5):748-66.