title: Exposure to Traumatic Events and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in France: Results From the WMH Survey.
abstract: This study examined the prevalence of traumatic events and the conditional probability of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with both specific and broad classes of events in a nationally representative sample from France. The sample (N = 1,436) was a part of the European Study of the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders Survey (ESEMeD), under the WHO World Mental Health Surveys-2000 initiative. Overall, exposure to any traumatic event was 72.7%, which appeared to be lower than what has been reported in Sweden (80.8%), similar to data from the Netherlands (71.1%), and higher than what has been reported in Spain (54.0%), Italy (56.1%), Northern Ireland (60.6%) or the U.S (55.9%). Lifetime prevalence of PTSD was 3.9%, lower than in the United States (7.8%), Sweden (5.6%), or Northern Ireland (8.8%), but higher than in Spain (2.2%) or Italy (2.4%). Being beaten up by a romantic partner (25.0%), having a child with serious illness (23.5%), and rape (21.5%) were associated with the highest risk of PTSD. The average duration of PTSD was 5.3 years (0.2-28.1). The burden of PTSD in France appeared to come from the consequences of violence and social network events suggesting that prevention efforts might focus on limiting the occurrence of exposure to avoidable events such as violence as well as provide support for persons exposed to social network events.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Psychologie de Paris Descartes (EA 4057), Institut Universitaire de France, Boulogne Billancourt, France.
authors.forename: Mathilde M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Husky
authors.affiliation: Université Paris Diderot, Hôpital Fernand-Widal, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lépine
authors.affiliation: INSERM U669, Maison des Adolescents, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gasquet
authors.affiliation: Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique, Institut de Psychologie de Paris Descartes (EA 4057), Paris, France.
authors.forename: Viviane
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kovess-Masfety
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017281:Cost of Illness; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000523:psychology*; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology*; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult