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Limited research has addressed factors associated with psychological distress following disasters among non-Western populations. The 2004 tsunami affected 1.7 million people across South Asia and Africa, with considerable variations in trauma-related outcomes. Pretraumatic and peritraumatic conditions associated with trauma-related symptoms in 305 Sri Lankan adult survivors (28% male, aged 18-83 years; mean = 39.9 years; standard deviation = 15.3), clinically assessed 1 month posttsunami, were evaluated retrospectively. Outcome measures were total scores on 11 trauma-related symptoms. Multivariate linear regression analyses tested for associations between pretraumatic and peritraumatic conditions and symptom scores, with peritraumatic conditions adjusted for pretraumatic variables. Pretraumatic conditions of female gender, employment, prior health and social issues, and substance use and peritraumatic conditions of loss of family, witnessing the tsunami, or suffering an injury were associated with trauma-related symptoms. The findings facilitate understanding cultural contexts that define risk factors associated with trauma-related symptoms in Sri Lankans, which are critical for developing culturally appropriate interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The 2004 Tsunami impacted an estimated 1.7 million people across South Asia. Limited research has examined factors related to resilience following natural disasters among non-Western populations, particularly those from Sri Lanka and little is known on the long-term impacts of the disaster on affected populations. Utilising an 18-item interview guide based on the Multidimensional Trauma Recovery and Resilience Interview (MTRR-I), individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with 37 tsunami-affected adults (76% female, aged 20–71 years, M = 39.0, SD = 12.7) from the Hambantota and Kalutara districts of Sri Lanka six years post-tsunami. Using an ecological framework, interviews explored themes of resilience following trauma, the context of culture on resilience in survivors, and interactions between the individual, situation, and environmental influences on resilience. Thematic analyses were used to explore narratives for themes of resilience. Key themes to emerge were pre-trauma resilience, social resilience, 'made my mind' (mending of broken will), finding meaning in trauma, and hope for the future. Particular emphasis on social aspects of resilience, where survivors gained strength not only from important individuals around them, but also through being resilient on behalf of key persons in their lives was noted. Findings indicated that resilience in persons from collectivist cultures is strongly influenced by social factors and provided understanding of resilience in this cohort across their lifespan. Implications for informing culturally relevant definitions and theory are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]