Cultural Variations in Resilience Capacity and Posttraumatic Stress: A Tri-Cultural Comparison

Abstract

Resilience capacity has been associated with individuals’ flexibility and adaptability in responding to potential trauma. Culture-related appraisals influence not only interpretations of etiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and perception of severity of PTSD symptoms but also flexible coping strategies. However, adequate research of the mechanisms on how culture may affect the relationship between resilience and PTSD does not yet exist. The present study focused on whether and how culture (America, Hong Kong, and Mainland China) moderated the relationship between resilience capacity and severity of posttraumatic distress. Data were collected at three research sites (America, Hong Kong, and Mainland China) where 558 trauma survivors were recruited. Measures included the Life Events Checklist ( LEC-5), the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 ( PCL-5), and the Revised Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale ( CD-RISC-R). The results of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that American participants were more resilient than the participants in Hong Kong and Mainland China. The results of multiple regression indicated that frequency of exposure to trauma was a weaker predictor of severity of PTSD symptoms at high versus low levels of resilience capacity. The results also indicated a weaker moderating effect of Hong Kong versus American culture on the relation between resilience capacity and PTSD. This pilot study highlighted East–West cultural differences in the baselines of resilience capacity and posttraumatic stress and may motivate clinicians and researchers to reevaluate Western diagnostic criteria to psychological trauma conceptualization and treatment for non-Western populations.