An intercultural assessment of the type, intensity and number of crisis precipitating factors in three cultures: United States, Brazil and Taiwan

Abstract The precipitating factors of crisis have cultural interpretations that make diagnostic criteria and intervention methods ethnologically different. The crisis precipitating factors of individuals seeking intervention in the Republic of China (Taiwan), Brazil and the United States (U.S.) were investigated toward the end of isolating correlates and discrepancies of ethnic-related precipitants of crisis. The primary objective of the study was to influence crisis intervention in the profession of nursing from the almost universally utilized Western Model, to one that takes cultural uniqueness into account. Stressors and stressor intensities which lead to help-seeking behavior of clients in selected crisis intervention facilities in the three countries were identified. A 60 question instrument ranked client responses according to Axis 4 of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-III of the American Psychiatric Association (APA, 1980; 1986). Each item also reflected one of four Human Response Patterns of the North American Nursing Diagnostic Association (NANDA) taxonomy, which was utilized as a clustering device in data analysis. Somatization versus psychologization of crisis precipitating factors was also measured through the NANDA categories. A convenience sample of 30 subjects were queried in each country by nurse interviewers. Data analysis through ANOVA showed cultural uniqueness and mutuality.