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. 2024;15(1):2358685.
doi: 10.1080/20008066.2024.2358685. Epub 2024 Jun 5.

Cultural differences in appraisals of control and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms

Laura Jobson  1 , Larissa Shiying Qiu  1 , Joshua Wong  2 , Haoxiang Li  1 , July Lies  1 , Winnie Lau  3 , Richard A Bryant  2 , Belinda J Liddell  2   4
Affiliations

Cultural differences in appraisals of control and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms

Laura Jobson et al. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2024.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Background: Appraisals are central to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet, few studies have examined how culture influences the associations between different types of trauma-related appraisals and PTSD symptoms.Objective: This study investigated cultural influences on appraisals of control and their associations with PTSD symptoms.Method: European Australian (n = 140, Mage = 35.80, SD = 12.44; 21 men, 97 women, 20 gender diverse/prefer not to report) and Chinese Australian (n = 129, Mage = 30.16, SD = 8.93, 21 men, 97 women, 20 gender diverse/prefer not to report) trauma survivors completed measures of appraisals, cultural values, and PTSD symptoms.Results: Findings showed that the Chinese Australian group was associated with greater Chinese cultural beliefs about adversity (i.e. emphasizing the value of adversity and people's ability to overcome adversity) and fewer fatalism appraisals (i.e. appraising one's destiny as externally determined), which in turn were atemporally associated with fewer PTSD symptoms; these atemporal indirect associations were moderated by self-construal and holistic thinking. The Chinese Australian group also reported fewer secondary control appraisals (i.e. attempts to change aspects of the self and accept current circumstances), which were atemporally associated with greater PTSD symptoms. In contrast, the European Australian group was associated with fewer primary control appraisals (i.e. perceived ability to personally change or control a situation), which were atemporally associated with greater PTSD symptoms.Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of considering the influence of culture on appraisals in PTSD. However, it must be noted that causal relationships cannot be inferred from cross-sectional mediation analyses and thus, future longitudinal research is needed.

Antecedentes: Las evaluaciones son centrales en el trastorno de estrés postraumático (TEPT). Aun así, pocos estudios han examinado cómo la cultura influye en la asociación entre los diferentes tipos de evaluaciones relacionadas con el trauma y los síntomas de TEPT.

Objetivo: Este estudio investigó las influencias culturales en las evaluaciones del control y sus asociaciones con los síntomas de TEPT.

Método: Sobrevivientes de trauma europeos-australianos (n = 140 edad M = 35.80, DE = 12.44, 21 hombres, 97 mujeres, 20 de género diverso/prefiere no reportar) y chino-australianos (n = 129, Edad M = 30.16, DE = 8.93, 21 hombres, 97 mujeres, 20 de género diverso/prefiere no reportar) completaron medidas de evaluaciones, valores culturales y síntomas de TEPT.

Resultados: Los hallazgos mostraron que el grupo chino-australiano estaba asociado con mayores creencias culturales chinas acerca de la adversidad (es decir, énfasis en el valor de la adversidad y la capacidad de las personas para sobreponerse a la adversidad) y menos evaluaciones fatalistas (es decir, evaluación que el destino de uno está determinado externamente), que a su vez estuvieron asociados atemporalmente con menos síntomas de TEPT; estas asociaciones indirectas atemporales estuvieron moderadas por un pensamiento holístico y de autoconcepto. El grupo chino-australiano también reportó menos evaluaciones de control secundarias (es decir, intentos de cambiar aspectos de sí mismo y aceptar las circunstancias actuales), y que se asociaron atemporalmente con mayores síntomas de TEPT. En contraste, el grupo europeo-australiano se asoció con menos evaluaciones de control primario (es decir, capacidad percibida para cambiar o controlar personalmente una situación), las cuales se asociaron atemporalmente con mayores síntomas de TEPT.

Conclusión: Estos hallazgos resaltan la importancia de considerar la influencia de las evaluaciones culturales en el TEPT. Sin embargo, debe tenerse en cuenta que las relaciones causales no se pueden inferir a partir del análisis de mediación transversal y, por lo tanto, se necesitan futuras investigaciones longitudinales.

Keywords: PTSD, appraisals, Australian, Chinese, self-construal; TEPT; australianos; autoconcepto; chinos; evaluaciones.

Plain language summary

Chinese Australian trauma survivors were associated with greater reporting of Chinese cultural beliefs about adversity and fewer fatalism appraisals, which were associated with fewer PTSD symptoms. These associations were moderated by a trauma survivor’s self-construal and level of holistic thinking.Chinese Australian trauma survivors reported fewer secondary control appraisals, which were associated with greater PTSD symptoms.European Australian trauma survivors were associated with fewer primary control appraisals, which were associated with greater PTSD symptoms.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The proposed moderated mediation model for Hypothesis 3.
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