Who is most at risk for emotional trauma?

Females are more likely to experience sexual assault and child sexual abuse than males. And even though males are more likely to experience accidents, disaster, combat, and nonsexual assault, women who do experience these potentially traumatic events are more likely to develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome from the emotional trauma. Experiencing even greater risk, however, are children, whose exposure to traumatic events at a critical, developmental time is more likely to put them at risk of recurring emotional trauma later in life.