Post-traumatic growth
[1] Posttraumatic growth involves "life-changing" psychological shifts in thinking and relating to the world and the self, that contribute to a personal process of change, that is deeply meaningful.
Attempts to understand and discover the meaning of human suffering represent a central theme of much philosophical inquiry and appear in the works of novelists, dramatists and poets.
[6] The term "posttraumatic growth" was coined by psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
[11] If the individual positively accommodates the trauma-related information and assimilates prior beliefs, psychological growth can occur following adversity.
The presence of rumination, sharing negative emotions, positive coping strategies (e.g. spirituality), event centrality, resilience, and growth actions are associated with increased PTG.
As Richard G. Tedeschi and other post-traumatic growth researchers have found, the ability to accept situations that cannot be changed is crucial for adapting to traumatic life events.
[23] Since 1994, research findings suggested that personality traits can change in response to life transition events during middle and late adulthood.
[26] An individual who experienced moderate amounts of stressful events was more likely to develop coping skills, seek support from their environment, and experience more confidence in their ability to overcome adversity.
[27] Similarly, research reveals personality changes among spouses of terminal cancer patients suggesting such traumatic life transitions facilitated increases in interpersonal orientation, prosocial behaviors, and dependability scores.
[28] The outcome of traumatic events can be negatively impacted by factors occurring during and after the trauma, potentially increasing the risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder, or other mental health difficulties.
[40] Individuals who score high on conscientiousness tend to be better at self-regulating their internal experience, have better impulse control, and are more likely to seek achievements across various domains.
The theoretical framework put forth by Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi[52] and Tedeschi & Calhoun[50][1] have substantial overlap and both cite "positive psychological changes".
While more research is needed to establish the prevalence of cancer related PTG, there is mounting evidence that high rates of patients experience some form of positive growth.
[71][70][76] Promotive Factors in Psycho-Oncology There are many variables which are associated with development of PTG for oncology patients such as social support, subjective appraisal of the threat, and positive coping strategies.
[79] After undergoing radiation for cancer of the vocal cord, Jim found a new appreciation for health and used his experience to motivate his sons to never start smoking.
After surviving osteogenic sarcoma which resulted in the amputation of her leg, Sheila Kussner began giving back by visiting other amputees in hospitals to share support.
She later went on to raise millions of dollars for cancer research and establishing the Hope and Cope program at the Montreal Jewish General hospital which provides psychological support to thousands of patients.
For example, Southwick and Charney, in a study of 250 prisoners of war from Vietnam, showed that participants developed much lower rates of depression and PTSD symptoms than expected.
Ultimately, however, the meta-analysis serves to show that PTSD and posttraumatic growth are not mutually exclusive ends of a recovery spectrum and that they may actually co-occur during a successful process to thriving.
Dr. Richard Tedeschi and Dr. Erika Felix specifically note that resilience suggests bouncing back and returning to one's previous state of being, whereas post-traumatic growth fosters a transformed way of being or understanding for an individual.
Thriving in positive psychology definitely aims to promote growth beyond survival, but it is important to note that some of the theories surrounding the causes and effects of it are more ambiguous.
The five fields of posttraumatic growth that Meichenbaum outlined include: relating to others, new possibilities, personal strength, spiritual change, and appreciation for life.
The inventory includes elements from five key areas: relating to others, new possibilities, personal strength, spiritual change, and appreciation for life.
[89] These five categories are reminiscent of the subjective experiences Carver struggled to quantify in his own literature on thriving, but are imposed onto scales to maintain measurability.
[6] Concurrent with a third facet of Meichenbaum's posttraumatic growth, personal strength, a meta analysis of six qualitative studies done by Finfgeld focuses on courage as a path to thriving.
Besides this, it was found in Finfgeld's study that courage is promoted and sustained by intra- and interpersonal forces, further supporting Meichenbaum's concept of "relating to others" and its effect on thriving.
[93] On Meichenbaum's idea of appreciation for life, research done by Tyson on a sample of people 2–5 years into grieving processing reveals the importance of creating meaning.
Comparison-based thinking has been shown to aid in the development of posttraumatic growth, in which a person considers the positive differences between their current lives and their life during a traumatic event.
This self-deception side is used as a mechanism of coping with, or making sense of, a traumatic event in one's life, rather than proof of an improved psychological state.
A range of biological research is finding real differences between individuals with and without PTG at the level of gene expression[104] and brain activity.
