Personal growth initiative (PGI), an individual's active and intentional engagement in the growth process, was originally developed as a potentially useful construct in therapy. Although it has repeatedly been related to psychological well-being and distress, few studies have examined PGI in clinical samples. The current study investigated the role of PGI in a sample of 295 clients at a community-serving training clinic. Data were collected at two time points. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a second-order model with four first-order PGI factors: Readiness for Change, Planfulness, Using Resources, and Intentional Behavior. Using cross-lagged panel analysis, PGI at Time 1 was found to predict psychological distress endorsed at Time 2 after accounting for distress at Time 1.

Personal growth initiative has been shown to be an important predictor of psychological health. It is currently measured by the Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II (PGIS-II), which consists of 4 interrelated factors. Past research across various samples has consistently selected the 4-factor model as the best fit for the data compared to single-factor and second-order models. However, its fit has typically been adequate (not strong), and, to date, no research has examined alternate factor structures, such as a bifactor solution. The current study examined 4 theoretically informed potential models-single-factor, 4-factor, second-order 4 factor, and bifactor-across 3 samples drawn from different populations: 223 college students, 307 Mechanical Turk participants, and 281 clinical therapy clients. Across all 3 samples, the bifactor model was the best fit for the data, and tests of multigroup invariance indicated this model was invariant through the scalar level. Finally, analyses of the explained common variance and percentage of uncontaminated correlations indicated that the PGIS-II can be appropriately modeled unidimensionally. (PsycINFO Database Record

The ''I Said, You Said'' technique leads the couple through a series of communication exercises that emphasizes the power of verbal and non-verbal cues. Initially, non-verbal cues that a couple uses to interpret each other's spoken words are decreased to reduce the outside influences of attributed meaning. This allows the couple to focus on the clarity of the spoken message. Additional steps in this technique include restructuring speaker and listener roles, education about communication patterns, and learning how to communicate with more clarity and effectiveness, even when topics are emotionally laden. A brief vignette using the intervention follows this discussion.