The lifetime prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women is approximately 10–13%, nearly twice that in men (Resnick et al. 1993; Kessler et al. 1995; Breslau et al. 1998) and alcohol abuse and dependence occur at much higher rates in women with PTSD than in women from the general population (Breslau et al. 1997; Kessler et al. 1997; Perkonigg et al. 2000; Danielson et al. 2009). According to National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) data, 27.9 % of women with PTSD meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders (AUDs), compared to only 13.5% without PTSD (Kessler et al. 1995). Although their cooccurrence is well documented, the mechanisms underlying the association between PTSD and AUDs have not been clearly established. One plausible link is a common source of genetic risk.
