Posttraumatic Stress and Posttraumatic Growth in Adolescents following Hurricane Katrina
Description
Research has shown that individuals are able to realize positive changes in their lives following traumatic experiences. Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996) have labeled these benefits as post-traumatic growth (PTG), a multidimensional construct that includes growth within five distinct areas. Researchers have documented PTG in youth, which tends to co-occur with posttraumatic stress symptoms (Laufer & Solomon, 2006; Ickovics, et al., 2006). Further, initial research with youth indicates these populations may experience dimensions of growth beyond the scope of domains prevalent in the adult literature. The current study examined PTG within a sample of African American middle school students attending a parochial school in New Orleans six months following Hurricane Katrina using qualitative methods, a departure from the inventorybased methodology typical of most PTG studies. The first hypothesis was that participants would provide responses that extend beyond the five established domains. Due to cultural aspects of African American populations, the second hypothesis was that Relating to Others and Spiritual Change would be particularly prominent within the study's sample. The final hypothesis was that participants with clinically significant symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) would show more evidence of PTG than those without clinically significant symptoms. T-tests and z-tests were used to compare participants' endorsement of domains, and analyses of variance were used to compare the PTSD and No-PTSD groups. Results show that participants provided examples of PTG both within and beyond the five-domain paradigm, and tended to endorse more concrete than complex domains like that of Relating to Others and Spiritual Change. Participants with clinically significant symptoms of PTSD provided more examples of PTG than those without significant PTSD symptoms, and the relationship between PTSD and PTG was strongest when considering the five-domain model of PTG