[Postraumatic mental disorders in traders victims of crime].

INTRODUCTION: Crime consequences are not only a security problem; they are also a community health question. Because shop assistants are particularly exposed to crime victimization, they are at risk from suffering posttraumatic stress disorders.

OBJECTIVES: To describe posttraumatic symptomatology of crime victimized shop assistants and to explore the relationship between the symptoms and demographic, victim and situational factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Self-reported information about mental symptomatology was gathered from 126 victimized shop assistants identified during cross-sectional study. Case and control groups were formed to explore association between symptomatology and crime and victim characteristics.

RESULTS: The 20.6% of respondents reported information compatible with posttraumatic stress disorder; the 13 %, with moderate/severe depression and the 69.8% with adjustment disorder. The condition of being a case was associated with the violent characteristic of the crime, with the subtraction of goods and the economic value of the goods.