Abstract
The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of cultural factors (ethnic identity, gender roles, and religiosity) on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among adult survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA). Literature is sparse on the interaction of the aforementioned cultural factors on the development and maintenance of PTSD among CSA survivors. Bronfenbrenner's ecological model (Bronfenbrenner, 1977) was utilized as a framework to explore these cultural factors. Participants included 75 ethnically and religiously diverse adult female survivors of CSA. Three Pearson correlations were conducted to test the relationships between the three predictor variables (ethnic identity, gender roles, and religiosity) and PTSD symptoms (dependent variable). Results did not indicate a relationship between the three predictor variables and PTSD. A multiple regression was conducted using the combination of the predictor variables (ethnic identity, gender roles, and religiosity) to predict increased PTSD symptomology among participants that endorsed greater levels of ethnic identity, traditional gender roles, and religiosity. Results indicated the predictor variables did not contribute to the prediction of PTSD. A subsequent post hoc analysis was conducted to determine if there was a difference between ethnic minority participants and White/European American participants on PTSD symptoms. This comparison was found to be not statistically significant. The limitations, clinical implications, and future directions for research were discussed.