Posttraumatic cognitions, somatization, and PTSD severity among Asian American and White college women with sexual trauma histories.

Abstract

The need for trauma research with monoracial groups such as Asian Americans (AA) has recently been emphasized to better understand trauma experiences and inform interventions across populations. Given AA cultural contexts, posttraumatic cognitions and somatization may be key in understanding trauma experiences for this group. AA and White American (WA) trauma-exposed college women completed a survey on sexual trauma history, posttraumatic cognitions, somatic symptoms, and PTSD severity. For the overall sample, higher negative cognitions were associated with higher somatization. Asian race was associated with higher negative cognitions, which then predicted higher PTSD. Unexpectedly, WAs more strongly endorsed somatization than AAs. These findings indicate that posttraumatic cognitions may be helpful in understanding relationships between somatization and PTSD severity among those of Asian backgrounds and that the relationship between somatization and PTSD symptoms is culturally complex.