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The widely used Centrality of Event Scale (CES) measures the extent that a traumatic event serves as a central component of self-identity, a reference point, and a turning point in an individual's life story. The present study aimed to develop a Chinese version of the CES and assess its reliability, criterion validity, and factor structure. Data were collected from three samples of trauma-exposed Taiwanese individuals (N = 939), including 420 earthquake survivors, 300 trauma-exposed community adults, and 219 trauma-exposed undergraduate students. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis and compared the resulting models with a one-factor model and the originally proposed model. The results indicated that a new three-factor model, S-Bχ 2 (167, N = 519) = 687.01, p < .001, CFI = .95, IFI = .95, NNFI = .94, RMSEA = .078, SRMR = .047, might better represent the construct compared to the one-factor or originally proposed model. Furthermore, the Chinese CES demonstrated excellent internal consistency, Cronbach's αs = .89-.94; adequate 1-month reliability, rs = .54-.64, and 6-month temporal stability, rs = .52-.67; and good concurrent and predictive validity. The findings indicate that the Chinese version of the CES demonstrates good psychometric properties with a three-factor structure, and it could be used to assess event centrality among nonclinical trauma-exposed Taiwanese adults., (© 2022 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.)

Objective: Traumatic events can lead not only to psychological distress but also to posttraumatic growth (PTG). As trauma challenge one's fundamental assumptions, traumatized individuals may initially experience intrusive rumination. However, these challenged assumptions could facilitate further cognitive processing of trauma (i.e., deliberate rumination), which in turn fosters PTG. Adaptive cognitive processes, such as reduced rumination, have been linked to dispositional mindfulness. Thus, the current study aimed to investigate the potential role of dispositional mindfulness in the process of PTG., Method: A 3-wave longitudinal design was employed to capture temporal changes in PTG. At the initial assessment (time 1), 259 traumatized individuals were assessed with regard to their trauma experiences, core belief challenge, intrusive and deliberate rumination, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), PTG, and dispositional mindfulness. The surveys were repeated after 1 month (time 2) and 7 months (time 3)., Results: Over time, the first indirect association of core belief challenge was increased PTG through recent intrusive and deliberate rumination, and the second indirect association of core belief challenge was decreased PTG through recent intrusive rumination and PTSS. In addition, dispositional mindfulness significantly moderated these 2 indirect associations. Individuals with a medium level of mindfulness at time 1 had lower levels of rumination and PTSS at time 3 compared to individuals with a low level of mindfulness., Conclusions: In the face of trauma, dispositional mindfulness promotes resilience through a subsequent reduction in rumination and PTSS. Our results highlight the protective role of dispositional mindfulness in long-term outcomes of trauma exposure. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale for DSM-5 (PDS-5) is an updated DSM-5 version of the PDS, a widely used measure for PTSD. The PDS-5 has recently been shown to possess sound psychometric properties and awaits cross-cultural validation. The present study aimed first, to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the PDS-5; second, to evaluate alternative factor models of DSM-5 PTSD symptoms with multiple trauma samples. Data were collected from five samples of Taiwanese trauma-exposed individuals (total N = 903): 138 burn injury survivors, 403 earthquake survivors, 181 trauma-exposed young adults, 91 trauma-exposed undergraduates, and 90 female domestic violence survivors. The Chinese PDS-5 possessed excellent internal consistency (α s = .94-.95) and satisfactory five-week (r = .80) and one-year temporal stability (r = 0.76). Convergent, concurrent, and discriminant validity were also established. Consistent with recent studies, confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated the best fit of a seven-factor Hybrid model, followed by a six-factor Anhedonia model across multiple trauma samples., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Greater risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is seen in individuals exposed to interpersonal traumatic events. Based on an attachment perspective, interpersonal trauma exposure may activate one's attachment insecurity system and disrupt affect, behaviour and interpersonal function, which may in turn create more difficulties to cope with interpersonal traumas and exacerbate PTSD symptomatology. The present study examined whether attachment anxiety relative to attachment avoidance would be a stronger predictor of greater PTSD symptoms following interpersonal traumas versus impersonal traumas in a Taiwanese sample. One hundred and sixty-two trauma-exposed Taiwanese young adults completed the measures of symptoms of depression, anxiety and PTSD, and attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance. In this Taiwanese study, higher attachment anxiety was observed in individuals who were exposed to interpersonal traumas. The interpersonal trauma group reported greater PTSD symptoms than did the impersonal trauma group. Specifically, after controlling for age, occurrence of trauma and distress of trauma, attachment anxiety, but not attachment avoidance, predicted more PTSD total severity and avoidance symptoms in the interpersonal trauma group. The findings may be pertinent to attachment anxiety-related hyperactivating strategies, as well as specific cultural values and a forbearance strategy applied to regulate traumatic distress in a collectivist society. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., (Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

This study explored how individuals in Taiwan perceive the risk of earthquake and the relationship of past earthquake experience and gender to risk perception. Participants (n= 1,405), including earthquake survivors and those in the general population without prior direct earthquake exposure, were selected and interviewed through a computer-assisted telephone interviewing procedure using a random sampling and stratification method covering all 24 regions of Taiwan. A factor analysis of the interview data yielded a two-factor structure of risk perception in regard to earthquake. The first factor, "personal impact," encompassed perception of threat and fear related to earthquakes. The second factor, "controllability," encompassed a sense of efficacy of self-protection in regard to earthquakes. The findings indicated prior earthquake survivors and females reported higher scores on the personal impact factor than males and those with no prior direct earthquake experience, although there were no group differences on the controllability factor. The findings support that risk perception has multiple components, and suggest that past experience (survivor status) and gender (female) affect the perception of risk. Exploration of potential contributions of other demographic factors such as age, education, and marital status to personal impact, especially for females and survivors, is discussed. Future research on and intervention program with regard to risk perception are suggested accordingly., (© 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.)

Background: Care attendants constitute the main workforce in nursing homes, but their heavy workload, low autonomy, and indefinite responsibility result in high levels of stress and may affect quality of care. However, few studies have focused of this problem., Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine work-related stress and associated factors that affect care attendants in nursing homes and to offer suggestions for how management can alleviate these problems in care facilities., Methods: We recruited participants from nine nursing homes with 50 or more beds located in middle Taiwan; 110 care attendants completed the questionnaire. The work stress scale for the care attendants was validated and achieved good reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.93). We also conducted exploratory factor analysis., Results: Six factors were extracted from the work stress scale: insufficient ability, stressful reactions, heavy workload, trouble in care work, poor management, and working time problems. The explained variance achieved 64.96%. Factors related to higher work stress included working in a hospital-based nursing home, having a fixed schedule, night work, feeling burden, inconvenient facility, less enthusiasm, and self-rated higher stress., Conclusion: Work stress for care attendants in nursing homes is related to human resource management and quality of care. We suggest potential management strategies to alleviate work stress for these workers.