Associations between Social Support and Symptoms of PTSD among Malaysian and Australian Trauma Survivors
Understanding trauma and its effects on an individual within their socio-cultural context is essential. One of the most recognized and studied cultural dimensions relates to the value placed on the self in relation to others. Those from Western individualistic cultures (e.g., United States, Australia) perceive the self as independent, unique, and valuing personal goals, while those from Asian collectivistic cultures (e.g., Malaysia, China) perceive the self as interdependent, interconnected with others and prioritize harmony with close others. These differences effect interpersonal interactions and consequently influence whether support is sought, how it is sought, from whom it is sought, and the benefits and costs of seeking support.
Laura Jobson, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology at The Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, and her team have been exploring the cultural differences in social support on the symptoms of PTSD.
They administered online surveys to 91 Australian and 91 Malaysian trauma survivors to assess PTSD symptomatology and social support. The surveys measured explicit social support (the emotional comfort one obtains from disclosing the trauma to others and requesting assistance) and implicit social support (the emotional comfort one obtains from social networks without disclosing specifics of the stressful event), perceived helpfulness of support providers and attitudes towards professional help-seeking.
The researchers used a quasi-experimental design to assess the influence of mutual (i.e., the sharing of support between relationship partners) and non-mutual support (i.e., where one person constantly receives support, while the other person constantly provides support) on negative emotion and subjective distress.
They have completed the first part of their study and a paper on these data have been accepted for publication. This study has revealed some interesting differences between the Malaysian and Australian groups.
First, explicit social support was negatively associated with PTSD symptoms for the Australian group but not the Malaysian group. Second, perceived helpfulness of support from family was negatively associated with PTSD symptoms for the Malaysian group but not the Australian group. Third, the Malaysian group reported significantly greater distress for non-mutual support and significantly fewer negative emotions and distress for mutual support than the Australian group. Fourth, the Malaysian group reported that they were significantly more open to acknowledging psychological problems and the possibility of seeking professional help for these problems than the Australian group.
It is essential that cultural influences on social support are considered given the important clinical implications of PTSD. Dr, Jobson and her team will be doing a follow up study to clarify these results and deepen their understanding of the cultural differences in support for people who have experienced trauma.