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Psychological Functioning Following Violence: An Examination of Posttraumatic Growth, Distress, and Hope among Interpersonal Violence Survivors

Trauma research has been predominantly focused on the study of the negative psychological sequelae of traumatic experience. Recently, however, increased empirical attention has been paid to the potential for positive changes, or posttraumatic growth, derived from survivors’ struggle with trauma. There is evidence accumulating in support of this phenomenon following various types of traumatic events. Using an online, cross-sectional design, the present study examined posttraumatic growth among 143 survivors of interpersonal violence. Furthermore, the relationship between posttraumatic growth and the severity of psychological distress symptoms, as well as between growth and hope was explored. Results indicated that the severity of depressive symptoms was negatively related to growth, while the severity of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and hope were found to positively predict growth. Associations between posttraumatic growth and demographic and interpersonal violence characteristics did not emerge. The potential implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OTU.1807/24544
Date22 July 2010
CreatorsCabral, Christine Marie
ContributorsStermac, Lana
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
Languageen_ca
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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