Dominick Whitney
Psychology Department, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, United States.
Front Psychol. 2022 Oct 10;13:1019273. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1019273. eCollection 2022.
Post-traumatic Growth (PTG) is the positive psychological change that may occur after a highly stressful situation that shakes a person's core beliefs about the world. During 2020, the United States experienced the COVID-19 pandemic and a highly contentious political election, both of which have the potential to disrupt core beliefs and evoke perceptions of PTG. Post-traumatic growth, core belief disruption, perceived social support from humans and pets, coping strategies, and stressful events were assessed in 201 participants from the United States ( : 35.39, : 14.60) at four time points from April 2020 (T1) until April 2021 (T4). While total PTG did not significantly change from Time 1 to Time 4, perceptions of personal strength and new possibilities increased, as did core belief disruption, and the use of coping strategies decreased. Higher PTG was reported by those who owned pets, those who knew someone who had been hospitalized due to COVID-19, and those who knew someone who had died of COVID-19. While rating COVID-19 or politics as the most stressful event at Time 4 did not correspond to differences in PTG, those who perceived the event to be resolved had higher PTG than those who perceived the event to be ongoing. Having COVID-19 personally and vaccination status was not associated with differences in Post-traumatic Growth. PTG at Time 4 was predicted by core belief disruption and social support in the full sample and in the pet owners only sample, and by support from video conferencing for the full sample only. Time 4 PTG was also predicted by core belief disruption, problem-focused coping, and avoidance coping. Results are discussed in terms of the PTG theoretical model. Additionally, implications for interventions aimed at fostering psychological growth, including through non-traditional forms of social support (i.e., remote communication and perceived support from pets) are addressed.
创伤后成长（PTG）是指在经历了动摇个人对世界核心信念的高度紧张情况后可能发生的积极心理变化。2020年期间，美国经历了新冠疫情和一场极具争议的政治选举，这两者都有可能扰乱核心信念并引发创伤后成长的认知。对来自美国的201名参与者（年龄：35.39岁，标准差：14.60）在2020年4月（T1）至2021年4月（T4）的四个时间点进行了创伤后成长、核心信念扰乱、来自人类和宠物的感知社会支持、应对策略以及压力事件的评估。虽然从时间1到时间4总的创伤后成长没有显著变化，但个人力量和新可能性的认知有所增加，核心信念扰乱也增加了，应对策略的使用减少了。拥有宠物的人、认识因新冠疫情住院的人的人以及认识死于新冠疫情的人的人报告的创伤后成长水平更高。虽然在时间4将新冠疫情或政治评为最具压力的事件与创伤后成长的差异不相关，但那些认为事件已解决的人的创伤后成长水平高于那些认为事件仍在持续的人。个人感染新冠疫情和疫苗接种状况与创伤后成长的差异无关。在全样本和仅宠物主人样本中，创伤后成长在时间4由核心信念扰乱和社会支持预测，在全样本中仅由视频会议支持预测。时间4的创伤后成长还由核心信念扰乱、以问题为中心的应对和回避应对预测。根据创伤后成长理论模型对结果进行了讨论。此外，还探讨了旨在促进心理成长的干预措施的意义，包括通过非传统形式的社会支持（即远程通信和来自宠物的感知支持）。
