Background:While suppression is associated with detrimental post-traumatic psychological adjustment, research has not considered the effect of culture on this relationship.Aims:This study investigated cultural differences in the effects of expressive suppression, whilst watching a traumatic film, on subjective distress, psychophysiological responses and intrusive memory.Method:Australians of European heritage or East Asian Australian participants (n = 82) were randomly assigned to either a suppression group (instructed to suppress their emotions during the film) or a control group (no instructions regarding emotion management). Electrodermal activity, heart rate and heart rate variability (root mean square of the successive differences; RMSSD) were measured pre-, during and post-film. Participants reported the number of film-related intrusions in the 5 min and 7 days post-viewing.Results:While the European Australian group did not differ significantly on RMSSD, the East Asian suppression group scored significantly higher on RMSSD during the film than the East Asian control group. Second, those in the suppression groups, regardless of cultural background, reported significantly fewer intrusions immediately post-film than controls. Third, we found that for the European Australian group, change in heart rate interacted with group (control versus suppression) when predicting weekly intrusions. However, for the East Asian group change in heart rate did not interact with group when predicting weekly intrusions.Conclusions:The findings are discussed in the context of current research on culture and emotion regulation and implications for post-traumatic stress disorder.

中文翻译：

---

调查处理创伤性痛苦材料时表达抑制效果的文化差异

背景：虽然抑制与有害的创伤后心理调整有关，但研究并未考虑文化对这种关系的影响。目的：本研究调查了在观看创伤电影时表达抑制对主观痛苦、心理生理反应和侵入性记忆。方法：欧洲血统的澳大利亚人或东亚澳大利亚人参与者（n= 82）被随机分配到抑制组（指示在电影中抑制他们的情绪）或对照组（没有关于情绪管理的指示）。在拍摄前、拍摄期间和拍摄后测量皮肤电活动、心率和心率变异性（连续差异的均方根；RMSSD）。参与者在观看后 5 分钟和 7 天报告了与电影相关的入侵次数。结果：虽然欧洲澳大利亚组在 RMSSD 上没有显着差异，但东亚抑制组在电影期间的 RMSSD 得分显着高于东方亚洲对照组。其次，无论文化背景如何，压制组的人在电影后立即报告的入侵明显少于对照组。第三，我们发现对于欧洲澳大利亚组，相对抑制）在预测每周入侵时。然而，对于东亚人群来说，在预测每周入侵时，心率的变化并没有与人群相互作用。结论：研究结果是在当前关于文化和情绪调节的研究背景下讨论的，以及对创伤后应激障碍的影响。