Growth, Posttraumatic

Measuring Posttraumatic Growth

The most frequently used quantitative measure of posttraumatic growth is the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, published by Tedeschi and Calhoun in 1996, which includes 21 questions that address five kinds of changes people report in the aftermath of trauma. The inventory clearly does not include every one of the kinds of positive changes people can experience and report, but it does reflect changes that are part of the experience of people dealing with a very wide range of life difficulties. These five growth domains are as follows: a greater appreciation of life, an enhanced ability to manage interpersonal relationships, identification of new pathways or priorities in life, a greater sense of personal capability to cope with life events, and spiritual change or development. Currently, there are several versions of this measure. One form of the inventory also includes negative changes in the same domains as the positive ones. There also is a growth scale for use with children, and there are [Page 298]short forms of the adult and of the child measures. In addition, the Stress-Related Growth Scale, developed by Crystal Park, Lawrence Cohen, and Renee Murch, has been used in some studies, and there are some other infrequently used measures in the literature as well.

The Process of Posttraumatic Growth

The most comprehensive model or explanation of the process of posttraumatic growth is one first suggested by Tedeschi and Calhoun in 1995, and revised and expanded several times since then. This model is based on the idea that events are traumatic when they present serious challenges to the assumptions that people have about themselves, the course of their lives, their expectations about the future, the purpose and meaning of their lives, and the kind of world in which they live. When these core beliefs are questioned, or perhaps even directly contradicted, by the occurrence of a highly stressful set of circumstances, people need to reconsider what to believe in the aftermath of what has happened to them. This process has been compared to what happens in an earthquake, and it can be considered to be a psychologically seismic event, where core beliefs are seriously shaken and perhaps shattered. The structure of the general system of beliefs that people have about the world and their place in it needs to be rebuilt after trauma, perhaps in a way that is more resistant to future psychological shocks. During this rebuilding process, trauma survivors need to learn how to manage their emotional distress well enough to permit constructive reflection on their situation and how to understand its implications. They will be helped in this process by being able to disclose their reactions and thoughts to people who are able to have the patience and acceptance to allow trauma survivors to figure out what their revised system of core beliefs should be. Survivors may also use culturally familiar concepts and stories of growth and transformation. Posttraumatic growth is this process of personal transformation, as well as the outcomes reflected in the five domains of posttraumatic growth described earlier.

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