Fatalism as a traditional cultural belief potentially relevant to trauma sequelae: Measurement equivalence, extent and associations in six countries.

Background: Fatalism, known as the propensity to believe that one's destiny is externally determined, has so far been examined selectively, and not yet in a cross-cultural study. Moreover, a general, non-data-based speculation assumes that fatalism occurs to a lesser extent in countries of the Global North than in the Global South. Objective: Fatalism as a global psychological belief seems to have a prima facie validity, but this is to be investigated by measurement equivalence calculations across different countries from different world regions. Furthermore, socio-demographic and cultural geographic associations with fatalism scores will be investigated. Method: A six items fatalism scale was introduced in six large population-based samples from Europe, Africa, and Latin America (total n = 6'537). Testing of invariance followed standardized procedures for cross-cultural comparisons with a comprehensive parallel analysis. Regression analyses provided information on associations with socio-demography and cultural geography. Results: The fatalism construct divided into accentuated pessimistic and non-judgmental subscores in five of the six countries. The German sample showed the highest fatalism scores compared to almost all other countries. In particular higher age and lower educational attainment determine fatalism scores across countries. An explorative analysis of the associations between PTSD symptoms and fatalism scores for African countries revealed small correlations. Discussion: Fatalism as indicated by its subscores seems not to be an exclusive phenomenon of countries with higher economic and socio-cultural vulnerability. For all countries, sociodemographic groups can be identified in which these parts of a traditional belief system are more pronounced. Only for a subset of the countries examined has it been possible to analyse the associations with trauma. Further elaborated analyses in other samples should follow.

Antecedentes: El fatalismo, conocido como la propensión a creer que el destino de uno está determinado externamente, hasta ahora ha sido estudiado de forma selectiva, pero no aún en un estudio transcultural. Por otra parte, una especulación general, no basada en datos, asume que el fatalismo ocurre en menor grado en países del hemisferio norte que en los del hemisferio sur.Objetivo: El fatalismo como una creencia psicológica global parece tener a primera vista validez, pero será investigado por cálculos de equivalencias de medición en diferentes países de regiones mundiales diferentes. Asimismo, se estudiarán las asociaciones demográficas y culturales con puntajes de fatalismo.Método: Una escala de seis ítems fue introducida en seis amplias muestras poblacionales de Europa, África, y América Latina (total n=6,537). Se realizaron procedimientos estandarizados para comparaciones transculturales con un análisis completo paralelo, seguido de pruebas de invarianza. El análisis de regresión proveyó información en las asociaciones con socio-demografía y geografía cultural.Resultados: El constructo de fatalismo, fue dividido en dos sub-puntuajes acentuados pesimista y no crítico, en cinco de los seis países. La muestra alemana mostró los puntajes más altos de fatalismo comparado con todos los otros países. En particular la edad avanzada y el bajo nivel educacional determinan los puntajes de fatalismo en los países. Un análisis exploratorio de las asociaciones entre síntomas de TEPT y puntajes de fatalismo para países africanos reveló pequeñas correlaciones.Discusión: El fatalismo, al ser indicado por sus sub-puntajes parece no ser un fenómeno exclusivo de países con alta vulnerabilidad socio-cultural y económica. En todos los países, se pueden identificar grupos sociodemográficos en los cuales estos aspectos de un sistema tradicional de creencias son más pronunciados. Sólo fue posible examinar las asociaciones con trauma en un subgrupo de los países. Deberían realizarse futuros análisis detallados en otras muestras.

Simultaneous Development of a Multidimensional Fatalism Measure in English and Spanish.

Fatalism has been shown to predict several health behaviors, but researchers often find inconsistent results for the same behaviors across studies. This may be partially attributable to the diversity of fatalism measures that have been used in previous studies. A review of the literature revealed 51 different scales, all purported to measure fatalism, but often with heterogeneous content (Esparza 2005). A study done by Esparza (2005) retrieved 29 scales, including the most frequently used scales, and performed an exploratory factor analysis, obtaining as a result five factors: fatalism, helplessness, internality, luck, and divine control. The purpose of this study was to develop a multidimensional fatalism scale based on the previous findings by Esparza (2005). This scale was developed simultaneously in English and Spanish in order to linguistically "decenter" item content. The factor structure was cross-validated and measurement invariance was assessed across language versions. According to the measurement invariance analysis, this test is invariant across English and Spanish in its factor structure, loadings, variances, and covariances. This study results suggest that this scale may be used interchangeably in both English and Spanish.