Posttraumatic growth and depreciation six years after the 2004 tsunami

Abstract

Background: Posttraumatic growth (PTG) has been reported after various types of potentially traumatic events, as a part of the personal recovery process among survivors. Even negative changes in survivors’ life view, known as posttraumatic depreciation (PTD), have been identified as an additional aspect in the personal recovery processes. Objective: To examine how the type of exposure experienced by survivors of a natural disaster, the 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami, influenced self-reported PTG and PTD six years later (T2). Additionally, the study examined the relations between psychological distress and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) 14 months after the disaster (T1), to PTG and PTD, respectively at T2. Finally, the study examined whether psychological distress and PTSS (T1) could have a mediating effect on PTG and PTD at T2. Method: The participants were 848 tsunami survivors living in Stockholm, Sweden who responded to a questionnaire at 14 months (T1) and six years (T2) after the tsunami. The material was analysed using linear regression and pathway analysis. PTG and PTD were measured on separate scales. Results: The type of exposure was significant related to both PTG and PTD six years later (T2). Those experiencing a combination of various types of exposure (including threat to life and bereavement) reported higher scores for both PTG and PTD. There were significant positive correlations between PTSS at T1 and PTG /PTD at T2, and somewhat lower correlations between psychological distress at T1 and PTG/PTD at T2. Both PTSS and psychological distress at T1 were significant mediating variables for both PTG and PTD at T2. Conclusions: Studying survivors’ various types of exposure and subsequent changed view of life – both PTG and PTD – resulted in a broadened understanding of the complexity of reactions and the recovery process among survivors.

Dimensions of posttraumatic growth in a German-speaking sample using mixed methods

“…First, the variables traumatic event and growth were not correlated. An explanation could lie in the fact that we did not ask the participants to rate the subjective severity, as it is an individual's perception that allows the event to be comprehended as traumatic (Michélsen, Therup-Svedenlöf, Backheden, & Schulman, 2017). Second, our findings indicated that the trauma group experienced significantly less growth in the dimension of 'relation with others' compared to the non-trauma group.…”

“…It would have been preferable to include an additional open-ended question regarding possible negative changes because a minority of participants went with their answer about possible positive changes beyond the asked question and reported about negative changes as well. Thus, one could assume that also the other participants would have reported about negative changes (posttraumatic depreciation) if gotten the chance as, for example, in the study of Michélsen et al (2017). By extension, the PTGI-42 (Cann, Calhoun, Tedeschi, & Solomon, 2010), which assesses positive (posttraumatic growth) and negative (posttraumatic depreciation) changes, could be used.…”

“…By extension, the PTGI-42 (Cann, Calhoun, Tedeschi, & Solomon, 2010), which assesses positive (posttraumatic growth) and negative (posttraumatic depreciation) changes, could be used. Furthermore, participants were not requested to rate the severity of their chosen critical event, but perceived intensity plays an important role to predict growth (Michélsen et al, 2017).…”

Trauma and trauma care in Europe

“…Arnberg, Hultman, Michel, & Lundin, 2013) and the 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami (e.g. Michélsen, Therup-Svedenlöf, Backheden, & Schulman, 2017), both leading to hundreds of Swedish casualties, as well as the recent deployment of Swedish peacekeeping forces around the world, have highlighted the psychosocial consequences of trauma. More recently, the refugee crisis has set off many activities related to culturally informed trauma services.…”

Systematic search of Bayesian statistics in the field of psychotraumatology

“…2.In two articles (Michélsen et al, 2017; Mueller-Pfeiffer et al, 2010), Bayes was used but without any argumentation.…”