Citation

Mueller J, Orth U, Wang J, Maercker A. Can. J. Psychiatry 2009; 54(8): 547-556.

Affiliation

University Hospital Zurich, Psychiatric Department, Zurich, Switzerland. julia.mueller@usz.ch

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Canadian Psychiatric Association, Publisher SAGE Publications)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

19726007

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Only rare data exist comparing cross-cultural aspects of civilian traumatization. We compared prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in German and Chinese crime victims, and investigated the cross-cultural effect of 2 interpersonal predictors. METHOD: German (n = 151) and Chinese (n = 144) adult crime victims were assessed several months postcrime. The parallel questionnaire set assessed PTSD symptom severity, disclosure attitudes, social acknowledgement, and demographic and crime characteristics. RESULTS: German and Chinese participants differed significantly in their PTSD symptom severity. However, in both samples, disclosure attitudes and social acknowledgement predicted PTSD symptom severity with a similar strength, in addition to the effects of other PTSD predictors. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that interpersonal variables are predictors of PTSD symptom severity in both cultures and should be included in etiologic models of PTSD.

Language: en