(PS11-C52) Trauma Exposure and PTSD Symptom Expression Among Asian and Latin Immigrants

Introduction: The incidence of specific traumatic experiences, as well as associated posttraumatic outcomes, may vary across certain cultures as a function of culture-specific norms, attitudes, and racial disparities. Contemporary research on the topic, while substantially underdeveloped, supports this notion and suggests a critical need for investigation of the culture-specific manifestations of traumatic stress incidence and outcomes. This research, which identifies both within-cultural differences by race and ethnicity and cross-cultural differences in the exposure to particular traumatic events and PTSD symptom expressions, is essential for the development and implementation of culturally sensitive diagnostic tools and treatments (C’ed Beca et al., 2016). However, most research on cultural differences in traumatic stress incidence and PTSD symptom expression focuses on Veteran samples; as such, few large-scale studies have examined these differences in civilian samples. The current study attempts to address this critical gap in knowledge by exploring potential differences in trauma exposure and symptom expression in a large sample of civilians by culture (Asian and Latin) and gender.

 

Methods: All study data was obtained through the National Latino and Asian American Study (Alegria et al., 2004). Study participants (N = 4649) completed an interview with study personnel, during which a questionnaire regarding prior trauma exposure and current PTSD symptoms was administered. Additionally, the interviewer selected a random traumatic event that was endorsed by each participant and queried the presence of posttraumatic symptoms for the selected event. After the removal of participants who did not complete the trauma-specific interview, 281 participants remained (75.08% Latin, 24.91% Asian, and 65.83% female.)   

Results: Factorial ANOVAs were conducted to compare the effects of ethnicity and gender on the number of traumatic events, total PTSD symptoms, and PTSD symptom clusters. While there were no significant differences observed for total PTSD symptoms or PTSD symptom clusters across gender and racial groups, significant group differences were exposure to the number of traumatic events. With respect to exposure to the number of traumatic events, significant effects were observed for ethnicity (F[1, 277] =7.781, p=.006, η²=.027 ) and the interaction between gender and ethnicity (F[1, 277]=6.007, p=.015, η²=.021). The main effect for gender was not significant. Analysis of group means and the interaction effect indicated that exposure to trauma is likely to be higher for Latin males than other demographic groups.

Implications: The current study provides preliminary evidence that Latin males may experience higher rates of traumatic exposure relative to Latin females and Asian immigrants. While total PTSD symptoms and PTSD symptom clusters were not significant across groups, follow-up analyses will examine potential differences in endorsement of each PTSD symptom. This information is critical for the culturally sensitive understanding of PTSD manifestation and symptom expression within specific racial and ethnic groups.