8 april 2020
European Journal of Psychotraumatology
Amanda Nagulendran & Laura Jobson
https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1729033
Background: Emotion regulation difficulties are central to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While cultural differences exist in the ways in which individuals regulate their emotions, researchers have not examined cultural differences in emotion regulation in PTSD.
Objective: This study explored emotion regulation in individuals from European and East Asian cultures with and without PTSD.
Method: Emotion regulation measures were administered to Caucasian Australian (n = 31) and East Asian Australian (n = 38) trauma survivors with and without PTSD.
Results: Caucasian Australians with PTSD scored significantly higher on measures of worry, expressive suppression, thought suppression, rumination, experiential avoidance, and general emotion dysregulation compared to Caucasian Australians without PTSD. Similarly, East Asian Australians with PTSD scored significantly higher on measures of rumination and experiential avoidance than East Asian Australians without PTSD. However, worry, expressive suppression, thought suppression and general emotion dysregulation did not differentiate between East Asian Australians with and without PTSD.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that there may be cultural differences in emotion regulation difficulties in PTSD and highlight the need for further research in this area.
Keywords: posttraumatic stress disorder; culture; emotion regulation
Het European Journal of Psychotraumatology (EJPT) is een peer-reviewed, interdisciplinair wetenschappelijk tijdschrift dat deel uitmaakt van de European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS).
Het EJPT heeft als doel om wetenschappers, behandelaren en experts te betrekken bij de belangrijkste vraagstukken rond stress en trauma, waaronder individuele gebeurtenissen, herhaalde of chronische trauma's, grootschalige rampen en geweld.
