Are Smarter Kids at Lower Risk of PTSD?

In the Archives of General Psychiatry November 2006 issue a report that children more intelligent at age of 6 will probably be less prone to undergo trauma by the age of 17 and in case they do, there is a less possibility of development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Children suffering from conduct problems and anxiety disorders at the age of 6 seem more prone to develop PTSD subsequent to experiencing any traumatic event.

PTSD, a psychological condition arises after experiencing a traumatic event like crime, war, natural disaster or a critical illness or situation. Usually the symptoms are depression, sleep problems, flashbacks and anxiety. But not all people who are exposed to an event like this develops PTSD. According to researchers, certain factors for instance gender, socioeconomic background and race could affect people in experiencing trauma as well as increase their possibility of developing PTSD after a traumatic event. These factors might be more significant than the severity or type of the traumatic event to establish the people who might develop the disorder.

Dr. Naomi Breslau, PhD along with her colleagues at the Michigan State University, East Lansing conducted a study in 713 children (377 girls and 336 boys) who were born in between the years 1983 and 1985. The children were born in two Michigan hospitals, one in a middle-class suburban community and the other in a lower-income urban area. When they were 6 years old, the children were asked to take intelligence tests. The teachers of the children were asked to rate their behavior at school, and parents had to report anxiolytic symptoms if any, such as separation anxiety, phobias and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). On reaching the age of 17, the subjects had to complete an interview that was designed to determine the type and number of traumatic events experienced in their lives and also to assess the depth of affect such events had on them which included if they had experienced PTSD symptoms.

By the time the subjects reached the age of 17, about 541 participants (75.9%) had experienced a traumatic event and 45 (6.3%) met PTSD criterion. The children with greater IQ than 115 were less probable to be exposed to trauma of any kind, particularly violent crimes. Such children were also less prone to developing PTSD when they reached the age of 17 in case they experienced trauma. In cases of children where their teachers reported to be having more than normal conduct problems at 6 years of age were at a higher risk of exposure to violent assaults such as mugging, beating or rape by the time they reached 17 years. Such children along with the children having anxiety disorders at 6 years were twice as likely to develop PTSD by the time they reached 17 in case they had experienced a distressing event.

Also, socio-demographic factors had an influence on the risk of exposure to trauma and development of PTSD in children. The study stated that it was observed from the data that there was a sex-related pattern as reported in the previous studies which showed that males were more liable to be exposed to trauma and the females had high probability to experience PTSD after exposure to traumatic events. The cumulative occurrence of traumatic event exposure was high in the case of urban youth when compared to the suburban youth.

Children who had higher IQ scores were less likely to develop PTSD although there were other factors like urban background and anxiety. It was not clear as to what way having high IQ could safeguard from the PTSD effects after traumatic exposure. The findings of the study emphasized the significance of the role of investigating cognitive processes of the response to challenging and possibly traumatic experiences in a person as well as the role of general intelligence in molding them.