VICARIOUS TRAUMATIZATION IN VIETNAMESE STUDENTS IN RUSSIA UNDER THE THREAT TO FAMILY DURING TYPHOONS

The seminar will be held on 18 June (Thursday) at 11.00 at the address: Armenian Lane, 4, room 2, room 118.

The distant experience of a threat to the life and health of loved ones during a natural disaster constitutes an underexplored form of secondary traumatization, particularly acute among international students. Lacking the possibility of being physically present with their families, they are drawn into the traumatic event through media channels and fragmented communication with relatives. Vietnamese students studying in the Russian Federation are regularly exposed to such situations due to destructive typhoons crossing the territory of Vietnam.

The seminar will present the results of an empirical study of secondary traumatization among 100 Vietnamese students in the Russian Federation whose families were exposed to threats during typhoons Yagi, Bualoi, and Kalmaegi in 2024–2025. Particular attention will be given to findings that contradicted the initial hypotheses. The objective geographical distance between the family and the typhoon epicentre did not appear to be a significant factor determining the severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms. The data obtained from the overall sample also provided insufficient grounds for considering hardiness as a buffering resource that reduces PTSD symptomatology. Clearer differences emerged only when both proximity to the disaster and the intensity of exposure were considered jointly. Of particular interest is the paradox of persistence as one of the indicators of hardiness: in the subgroup exposed to the highest level of threat, this characteristic was positively correlated with post-traumatic symptoms, functioning not as a protective factor but rather as a mobilizing and compensatory mechanism.

The findings will be discussed in the context of cultural determinants of coping within the Vietnamese tradition, including the Confucian significance of the family system and filial piety, which may support the stability of family bonds as a resource under conditions of maximum threat. The discussion will also address the cultural scenario of perseverance and endurance, which may externally mask pronounced traumatic symptomatology. Practical implications will be considered for university psychological services working with international students whose families are affected by natural disasters.

Link: https://hse.mts-link.ru/j/144331727/21040706535