Do Gender and Country of Residence Matter? A Mixed Methods Study on Lay Causal Beliefs about PTSD

Caroline Meyer (), Louisa Heinzl, Christina Kampisiou, Sofia Triliva, Christine Knaevelsrud and Nadine Stammel
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Caroline Meyer: Division of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Louisa Heinzl: Division of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Christina Kampisiou: Division of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Sofia Triliva: Department of Psychology, University of Crete, 74100 Rethymno, Greece
Christine Knaevelsrud: Division of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Nadine Stammel: Division of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 18, 1-16

Abstract: Laypersons’ causal beliefs about mental disorders can differ considerably from medical or psychosocial clinicians’ models as they are shaped by social and cultural context and by personal experiences. This study aimed at identifying differences in causal beliefs about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by country and gender. A cross-sectional, vignette-based online survey was conducted with 737 participants from Germany, Greece, Ecuador, Mexico, and Russia. Participants were presented with a short unlabeled case vignette describing a person with symptoms of PTSD. Causal beliefs were assessed using an open-ended question asking for the three most likely causes. Answers were analyzed using thematic analysis. Afterwards, themes were transformed into categorical variables to analyze differences by country and by gender. Qualitative analyses revealed a wide range of different causal beliefs. Themes differed by gender, with women tending to mention more external causal beliefs. Themes also differed between the five countries but the differences between countries were more pronounced for women than for men. In conclusion, causal beliefs were multifaceted among laypersons and shared basic characteristics with empirically derived risk factors. The more pronounced differences for women suggest that potential gender effects should be considered in cross-cultural research.

Keywords: post-traumatic stress disorder; illness perceptions; explanatory models; trauma; cultural clinical research; mixed methods; intersectionality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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