| This aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the severity of posttraumatic symptoms and experiential and psychological factors among Chinese American adults. The factors that were studied were age, level of dissociation, level of somatization, level of physical injury and acculturation factors including English ability, level of education, level of income and length of residence in U.S. and the time interval between the end of trauma exposure and the initial assessment.;Fifty-two Chinese American adults were recruited at a few public and private mental health clinics located in Los Angeles Country. Each participant filled out a survey that was in the participant's preferred language, English, Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese. The survey consisted of Demographic and Background questions, PTSD Symptoms Scale, Self Report (PSS-SR), Dissociative Experience Scale II (DES-II) and the Mehrabian Somatization Scale. Each participant was offered a five-dollar Starbucks or McDonald's gift card.;As predicted by the hypotheses, the results indicated the severity of posttraumatic symptoms was significantly related to older age, higher levels of dissociation and somatization, higher levels of physical injury and two acculturation factors which were lower English ability and lower education. The linear combination of these factors was found to be able to predict the severity of posttraumatic response, based on simultaneous multiple regression analysis. In addition, no correlation was found with acculturation factors of income or length of residence in U.S. A non-linear relationship was indicated between the severity of posttraumatic symptoms and the time interval between the end of the trauma exposure and the initial assessment. The results indicate that dissociation and somatization are particular concerns in the Chinese American population. Suggestions for future research were made, including need to expand on these findings with a larger sample. Implications for treatment were also discussed. |
