Does Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Have a Genetic Component?

For now, Australia is more progressive than the United States in acknowledging and studying secondary/vicarious  PTSD, also known as intergenerational PTSD.   Dr. Ken O’Brien, a neurology researcher and State Health Advisor to Queensland, studies the heritability of PTSD, particularly in children and grandchildren of Vietnam veterans.   

His website is called Inheriting the Vietnam War Legacy, and contains links to his research and an explanation of his work in layman’s terms.   

A PDF of his 2007 research study, “The Uncounted Casualties of War:  Epigenetics and the Intergenerational Transference of PTSD Symptoms among Children and Grandchildren of Vietnam Veterans in Australia,” can be found here:  http://eprints.qut.edu.au/13794/1/13794.pdf 

A 2004 presentation at the Social Change in the 21st Century conference, entitled “The Intergenerational Transference of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder amongst Children and Grandchildren of Vietnam Veterans in Australia:  An Argument for a Genetic Origin,” can be found here:   http://eprints.qut.edu.au/650/1/obrien_ken.pdf