Why Cross‑Cultural Results Matter: A Commentary on Fung et al. (2026)
When a psychological finding fails to travel beyond the laboratory or the specific population in which it was discovered, its real‑world value is sharply limited. The study by Fung and colleagues, “Is low self‑compassion characteristic of ICD‑11 complex PTSD? Further investigation using cross‑cultural samples,” directly confronts this limitation. By demonstrating that low self‑compassion is a consistent feature of ICD‑11 complex PTSD (CPTSD) in both Western and non‑Western female mental health service users, the authors deliver a result that matters far beyond academic curiosity. The cross‑cultural nature of their finding is not a decorative addition; it is the engine that drives the clinical, theoretical, and human significance of the work.
Moving Beyond the WEIRD Monoculture
Psychology and psychiatry have long been criticised for relying overwhelmingly on samples from Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies. Findings built on such narrow foundations can embed cultural assumptions that may not hold elsewhere. A characteristic that appears central to a disorder in London or Los Angeles might be an artefact of individualistic cultural norms, a specific expression of distress, or a concept that simply does not translate. By deliberately sampling 77.3% of their participants from non‑Western countries—including Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Singapore, and Turkey—the study breaks this mould. The fact that the lowest levels of self‑compassion were consistently found in the CPTSD group, regardless of cultural region, powerfully argues that this is not a WEIRD‑specific curiosity. It suggests we are looking at a genuinely robust psychological feature of the disorder.
link of study:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022395625007022
Hong Wang Fung, Cherry Tin Yan Cheung, Anson Kai Chun Chau, Chak Hei Ocean Huang, Marc Eric S. Reyes, Edo S. Jaya, Firdaus Mukhtar, Amos En Zhe Lian, Görkem Derin, Peejay D. Bengwasan, Georgekutty Kochuchakkalackal Kuriala, Kadir Uludag, Steffi Hartanto, Nimaz Indryastuti Dewantary, Riangga Novrianto, Stanley Kam Ki Lam, Guangzhe Frank Yuan,
Is low self-compassion characteristic of ICD-11 complex PTSD? Further investigation using cross-cultural samples,
Journal of Psychiatric Research,
Volume 193,
2026,
Pages 15-18,
ISSN 0022-3956,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.11.007.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022395625007022)
Abstract: Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent, persistent, and disabling trauma disorder newly recognized in ICD-11. Some recent studies suggested that complex PTSD symptoms are negatively associated with self-compassion. This cross-regional study further examined whether low self-compassion would be characteristic of individuals with ICD-11 complex PTSD across cultures. An international sample of 995 female mental health service users completed validated measures of childhood trauma, complex PTSD, and self-compassion (22.7 % came from Western countries, 77.3 % from non-Western countries [mainly Asian countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Philippines]). One-way ANCOVA showed that, compared with participants with and without PTSD, participants with complex PTSD reported the lowest levels of self-compassion, after controlling for the effects of childhood trauma. The results are consistent in both Western and non-Western samples. This study shows that individuals with probable ICD-11 complex PTSD are characterized by low levels of self-compassion across cultures. Interventions targeting self-compassion should be integrated into the prevention and treatment of ICD-11 complex PTSD.
Keywords: Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD); Childhood trauma; Self-compassion; Cross-cultural psychiatry
