TY - JOUR
T1 - Investigating Posttraumatic Growth in Midlife Using an Intensive Longitudinal Research Design
T2 - Posttraumatic Growth Is Not as Prevalent as Previously Considered
AU - Infurna, Frank J.
AU - Luthar, Suniya
AU - Grimm, Kevin J.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by the John Templeton Foundation (Grant Number 60699). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funding agency.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - The notion that adversity leads to enduring improvements in psychological functioning carries promise given the diverse adversities individuals confront over their life course. However, research on posttraumatic growth (PTG) has relied on cross-sectional research designs, which severely limit the ability to discern whether growth transpires following adversity. Our goal was to examine whether PTG is possible across a diverse array of outcomes and identify factors that promote PTG. We analyzed data from a longitudinal, prospective study that assessed midlife participants monthly for a period of 2 years. Over the study period, 276 participants experienced a major life stressor, and multiphase multilevel models were used to examine whether PTG transpired in life satisfaction, gratitude, compassion, generativity, meaning-making, and religiosity/spirituality. On average, life satisfaction, generativity, and meaning-making declined following adversity; substantial between-person differences were observed across all outcomes. Our multidimensional approach revealed that, on average, individuals experienced PTG in less than one outcome. More anticipated support and less interpersonal strain were consistently associated with positive functioning in each outcome. Our discussion focuses on how multidimensional approaches to studying PTG promise to disentangle which outcomes potentially grow following adversity and illuminate best research practices for examining PTG, laying the groundwork for future research.
AB - The notion that adversity leads to enduring improvements in psychological functioning carries promise given the diverse adversities individuals confront over their life course. However, research on posttraumatic growth (PTG) has relied on cross-sectional research designs, which severely limit the ability to discern whether growth transpires following adversity. Our goal was to examine whether PTG is possible across a diverse array of outcomes and identify factors that promote PTG. We analyzed data from a longitudinal, prospective study that assessed midlife participants monthly for a period of 2 years. Over the study period, 276 participants experienced a major life stressor, and multiphase multilevel models were used to examine whether PTG transpired in life satisfaction, gratitude, compassion, generativity, meaning-making, and religiosity/spirituality. On average, life satisfaction, generativity, and meaning-making declined following adversity; substantial between-person differences were observed across all outcomes. Our multidimensional approach revealed that, on average, individuals experienced PTG in less than one outcome. More anticipated support and less interpersonal strain were consistently associated with positive functioning in each outcome. Our discussion focuses on how multidimensional approaches to studying PTG promise to disentangle which outcomes potentially grow following adversity and illuminate best research practices for examining PTG, laying the groundwork for future research.
KW - major life stressors
KW - midlife
KW - multidimensional approach to studying adversity
KW - posttraumatic growth
KW - social support
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U2 - 10.1177/08902070211041852
DO - 10.1177/08902070211041852
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85121859391
SN - 0890-2070
VL - 36
SP - 576
EP - 596
JO - European Journal of Personality
JF - European Journal of Personality
IS - 4
ER -