An interesting article in the Boston Globe about PTSD. One research study has found that there are, indeed, some predictors.
“Telch’s work is part of a provocative new strand of PTSD research, using modern psychology and computer science to unlock why and when a traumatic experience can derail a life. These studies—not just in military but civilian populations, too, testing cops and other first responders—hold the potential to transform our understanding of PTSD, changing it from an enigmatic and disruptive affliction that crashes over some people but not others, to a condition that can actually be predicted, quantified, and prepared for.”
https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2012/06/02/who-will-get-ptsd/CP8rQguZ5YW3PgUfM3qFoL/story.html