Traditional rural values and posttraumatic stress among rural and urban undergraduates

Although rurality is often treated as an aspect of diversity, researchers disagree regarding whether the traditional rural values of self-reliance, distrust of outsiders, religiosity, centrality of family, and fatalism continue to differentiate rural versus urban undergraduates. The present study ex...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2020-08, Vol.15 (8), p.e0237578-e0237578
Main Authors: Keller, Emily M, Owens, Gina P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cardiovascular disease
College students
Comparative analysis
Earth Sciences
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Geographical locations
Hostility
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mental disorders
Mental health
People and Places
Post traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumatic stress disorder
Psychological aspects
Rape
Religion
Risk factors
Rural areas
Rural life
Sex crimes
Social Sciences
Studies
Trauma
Urban areas
Urban life
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Summary:Although rurality is often treated as an aspect of diversity, researchers disagree regarding whether the traditional rural values of self-reliance, distrust of outsiders, religiosity, centrality of family, and fatalism continue to differentiate rural versus urban undergraduates. The present study examined 1) whether differences in these values exist between rural and urban college students in the United States and 2) whether these rural values might mediate the association between geographic remoteness and posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) severity. College undergraduates in the United States who reported experiencing traumatic and/or stressful events (N = 213) completed measures of these constructs through an online survey. T-test results indicated that rural respondents had significantly higher levels of PTSS severity and distrust of outsiders and significantly lower levels of religiosity when compared with urban participants. After controlling for gender, distrust of outsiders and religiosity also emerged as significant mediators of the relationship between geographic remoteness and PTSS severity. Thus, despite research that highlights differences based on geographic location, similarities and differences exist for rural and urban undergraduates in the United States with regard to traditionally rural values. For rural undergraduate clients presenting with trauma symptoms, our results suggest that building trust and religious and/or spiritual self-care may be particularly critical.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0237578