Cultural differences in personal identity in post-traumatic stress disorder

• Published in: British journal of clinical psychology 2008-03, Vol.47 (1), p.95-109
• Main Authors: Jobson, Laura, O'Kearney, Richard
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Australia - ethnology; Biological and medical sciences; Clinical psychology; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Cultural differences; Cultural diversity; Culture; Depressive Disorder - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Ethnic Groups - psychology; Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data; Female; Goals; Humans; Identity; Life Change Events; Male; Medical sciences; Memory; Mental illness; Personal identity; Personality; Personality Inventory; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Self Concept; Selfawareness; Severity of Illness Index; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Survival; Survivors - psychology; Trauma
• ISSN: 0144-6657; 2044-8260
• DOI: 10.1348/014466507X235953

Objectives This study investigated cultural differences in goals, self‐defining memories, and self‐cognitions in those with and without post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Method Trauma survivors with and without PTSD, from independent and interdependent cultures (N = 106) provided major personal goals, self‐defining memories, and self‐cognitions. Results Trauma survivors with PTSD from independent cultures reported more goals, self‐defining memories, and self‐cognitions that were trauma‐related than non‐PTSD trauma survivors from independent cultures. In contrast, for those from interdependent cultures, there was no difference between trauma survivors with and without PTSD in terms of trauma‐centred goals, self‐defining memories, and self‐cognitions. Conclusions The results suggest cultural variability in the impact of trauma on memory and identity, and highlight the need for contemporary models of PTSD to more explicitly consider culture in their accounts of PTSD. Clinical implications of these findings, such as cultural considerations in assessment and treating trauma relevant self‐schema in cognitive therapy for PTSD, are discussed.