Factors Influencing Post-traumatic Growth (PTG) in Young Adults with Trauma during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Most of the early adults in Korea have more than one traumatic experience during COVID-19 pandemic. The experience of a traumatic event causes psychological distress of the individual, making daily life difficult, and suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and anxiety. However, individuals who responded well to post-traumatic stress develop into a different level of competence and value than their pre-traumatic level of adaptation after trauma. The aim of this study was to analyze factors related to the levels of Post-traumatic Growth (PTG) in young adults with trauma, using the variables of the impact of event, ego-resilience, social support, meaning in life, fear of intimacy during the COVID-19 pendemic. Data were collected from 152 young adults in 4 cities from Macromill Embrain, a company specializing in the collection of data from online questionnaires, which have been created as online questionnaires. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlational coefficients, and multiple regression analysis. Traumas frequently experienced by respondents were traffic accidents and the death of family members or relatives, and the common time was two to three years ago. Respondents' PTG showed positive correlation with egoresilience, support from significant others, support from the family, support from friends, and meaning in life. PTG showed negative correlation with impact of event and fear of intimacy. Factors influencing PTG of respondents were the meaning in life (β = 0.38, p < 0.001), ego-resilience (β = 0.28, p < 0.001), support from friends (β = 0.17, p = 0.020), and impact of event (β = 0.13, p = 0.046). Influencing factors account for 41.0% of PTG in young adults. It is necessary to consider the variables o f the research results revealed in education and counseling for PTG in young adults.