Association between PTSD and Cognitive Performance: A Longitudinal Twins Study

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a chronic psychiatric condition that develops after exposure to life‐threatening events. The negative impact of PTSD on a person’s emotions and behavior can have long‐term deleterious effects on cognitive performance. The association between PTSD and cognition however can be confounded by unmeasured factors such as shared genetic and environmental factors. Twin studies allow us to explore this potential causal pathway by controlling for genetic and familial confounding.