From past research, both Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depressive disorders have been associated with child maltreatment. This study examined differences in symptom presentation among three groups of abused children: (1) PTSD only; (2) PTSD and major depressive disorder (MDD); and (3) MDD only in an attempt to identify PTSD symptom differences for those with PTSD and a concurrent episode of depression and those who were not depressed. It was hypothesized that items on the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) would discriminate between the two groups. Coming from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, 96 children (n=54 females and n=42 males), ranging from 5 years to 17 years and their parents participated in the study. The results identified a number of factors that discriminated between depressed PTSD children and their non-depressed PTSD counterparts. Sex was not evenly distributed among the three groups. Specifically, there were significantly more females than males in both the MDD and combined groups with the PTSD group containing more males. The findings suggest that sex, specifically being female, is a risk factor for the development of depression in abused children. References