An Examination of Posttraumatic Growth and Posttraumatic Depreciation: Two Exploratory Studies

Posttraumatic growth during unemployment: A qualitative examination of distress and positive transformation

“…The present study supports the conclusion that "the presence of growth does not necessarily signal an end to pain or distress, and usually it is not accompanied by a perspective that views the crisis, loss, or trauma itself as desirable" (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004a, p. 7; see also Baker, Kelly, Calhoun, Cann, & Tedeschi, 2008). This idea was captured by one participant's statement that "it's been the worst experience and the best all mixed up into one."…”

Positive Outcomes Following Bereavement: Paths to Posttraumatic Growth

“…Further, we tend to regard the assumption that the experience of growth will, or should, produce a commensurate reduction in psychological distress as erroneous. The data are somewhat inconsistent on the relationships between various measures of growth and general measures of psychological distress (Helgeson, Reynolds, & Tomich, 2006), but the available evidence does suggest that the experience of growth is best viewed as statistically independent from the experience of posttraumatic losses (Baker, Kelly, Calhoun, Cann, & Tedeschi, 2008;Cann, Calhoun, Tedeschi, & Solomon, in press). It is also important to remember that not all persons confronted with major stressors, including bereavement, experience growth.…”

“…Taku, Calhoun, Cann, and Tedeschi (2008), in a sample of bereaved Japanese university students, found that recent intrusive rumination was associated with greater distress, while deliberate rumination soon after the event predicted greater growth. Similarly, in a comparison of samples from the United States and Japan, it was found that across both samples, intrusive rumination soon after the stressful event was positively associated with growth, as was recent deliberate rumination (Taku, Cann, Tedeschi, & Calhoun, 2009).…”

Posttraumatic Growth and Recovery from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

“…However, these scales do not measure the positive and negative effects in the same domains, suggesting that the positive items are still subject to the same response biases as scales that only measure positive changes (Baker et al, 2008).…”

“…Recently, Baker et al, (2008) designed an expanded version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996), the Paired Format Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI-42), which measures posttraumatic growth (PTG) and posttraumatic depreciation (PTD). This scale enables individuals to report both positive and negative changes within the same personal domains.…”