Introduction: Cultural factors were shown to be particularly relevant for the development and expression of posttraumatic stress. Recently, the concept of cultural scripts of trauma has been introduced, which proposes that trauma sequelae elements may be sequentially linked and specifically associated with cultural factors. Furthermore, a cascade model is proposed, including trauma exposure, demographic characteristics, cultural affiliation, and trauma-related value orientations as influencing factors of posttraumatic development. The purpose of this Network Project is to investigate cultural psychological factors that contribute to the expression of posttraumatic stress.Methods: The present Network Project implements a mixed methods approach and will be conducted in 5 different study sites, including Switzerland, Israel, Georgia, China, and East Africa. In sub-study I, the cultural scripts of traumatic stress inventories (CSTIs) will be developed. These scales provide a pool of trauma sequelae elements for each cultural group. For this purpose, focus groups with trauma survivors and trauma experts will be conducted and analysed using qualitative research methods. Sub-study II implements a validation analysis of the CSTIs and the empirical investigation of a cultural cascade model. This quantitative approach will include a larger sample of individuals who experienced traumatic life events.Discussion: This contribution is timely and enriches the knowledge of trauma and culture. Future publications of this Network Project will address trauma sequelae from a cultural perspective and provide diagnostic and psychotherapeutic implications.
Introducción: Se ha demostrado que los factores culturales son particularmente relevantes para el desarrollo y la expresión del estrés postraumático. Recientemente, se ha adoptado el concepto de libretos culturales del trauma, en el que se propone que los elementos que componen las secuelas del trauma se encontrarían vinculados de forma secuencial y estarían asociados de forma específica con factores culturales. Además, se propone un modelo en cascada que incluye la exposición al trauma, características demográficas, filiación cultural y valores asociados al trauma como factores que influencian sobre el desarrollo postraumático. El propósito de este proyecto en red es el investigar factores psicológicos culturales que contribuyan con la expresión del estrés postraumático.
Keywords: PTSD; TEPT; Trauma; cascade model; cultura; cultural scripts; culture; libretos culturales; modelo en cascada.
This paper presents a Network Project that investigates cultural factors in posttraumatic sequelae.The Network Project encompasses an innovative research design with both qualitative and quantitative methods.New developments in the field of cultural clinical psychology are introduced, including cultural scripts of trauma and a cascade model of cultural factors in posttraumatic symptom expression.