Sex differences in post-traumatic stress disorder in a high adversity cohort of South African adolescents: an examination of depressive symptoms, age, and trauma type as explanatory factors

Abstract

Higher PTSD rates are observed in adolescent females in a high adversity-LMIC sample suggesting sex differences are robust across international contexts. Sex differences in PTSD are unlikely to be explained by co-occurring depression and in this context sex differences in depression may be secondary to trauma and PTSD. However, exposure to significant interpersonal trauma appears to overrule any specific female vulnerability.