Abstract
This chapter examines whether the connection between psychological growth and trauma is universal or linked to a specific cultural viewpoint. The concept of post-traumatic growth (PTG) is examined in relation to psychological distress and well-being in various cultural settings. Finally, recommendations on how to stimulate growth processes through specific psychological interventions are provided.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Almedom, A. M., Tesfamichael, B., Saeed Mohammed, Z., Muller, J., Mascie-Taylor, C. G. N., & Alemu, Z. (2005). “Hope” makes sense in Eritrean sense of coherence, but “loser” does not. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 10, 433–451.
American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed. Text Rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
Antona, J. (2011). Etnografia de los derechos humanos. Etnoconcepciones de los pueblos indigenas de América: el caso mapuche. Madrid: Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Arënliu, A., & Landsman, M. S. (2010). Thriving in postwar Kosova. In T. Weiss & R. Berger (Eds.), Posttraumatic growth and culturally competent practice: Lessons learned from around the globe (pp. 65–72). New York: Wiley.
Baker, J. M., Kelly, C., Calhoun, L. G., Cann, A., & Tedeschi, R. G. (2008). An examination of posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic depreciation. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 13, 450–465.
Bonanno, G. A. (2004). Loss, trauma and human resilience. American Psychologist, 59, 20–28.
Bonanno, G. A., Wortman, C. B., Lehman, D. R., Tweed, R. G., Haring, M., Sonnega, J., Carr, D., & Neese, R. M. (2002). Resilience to loss and chronic grief: A prospective study from pre-loss to 18 months post-loss. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1150–1164.
Bonanno, G. A., Brewin, C. R., Kaniasty, K., & La Greca, A. M. (2010). Weighing the costs of disaster: Consequences, risks, and resilience in individuals, families, and communities. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 11, 1–49.
Bonanno, G. A., Westphal, M., & Mancini, A. D. (2011). Resilience to loss and potential trauma. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 7, 511–535.
Bruno, M. A., Bernheim, J. L., Ledoux, D., Pellas, F., Demertzi, A., & Laureys, S. (2011). A survey on self-assessed well-being in a cohort of chronic locked-in syndrome patients: Happy majority, miserable minority. BMJ Open, 1, e000039. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2010-000039.
Butler, L. D., Koopman, C., Azarow, J., Blasey, C. M., Magdalene, J. C., Dimiceli, S., et al. (2009). Psychosocial predictors of resilience after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 197, 266–273.
Calhoun, L. G., & Tedeschi, R. G. (1999). Facilitating posttraumatic growth: A clinician’s guide. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Calhoun, L. G., Cann, A., Tedeschi, R. G., & McMillan, J. (2000). A correlational test of the relationship between posttraumatic growth, religion, and cognitive processing. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 13, 521–527.
Calhoun, L. G., Cann, A., & Tedeschi, R. G. (2010). The posttraumatic growth model. In T. Weiss & R. Berger (Eds.), Posttraumatic growth and culturally competent practice: Lessons learned from around the globe (pp. 1–14). New York: Wiley.
Cann, A., Calhoun, L. G., Tedeschi, R. G., & Solomon, D. T. (2010). Posttraumatic growth and depreciation as independent experiences and predictors of well-being. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 15, 151–166.
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1990). Origins and functions of positive and negative affect: A control process view. Psychological Review, 97, 19–35.
Castilla, C., & Vázquez, C. (2011). Stress-related symptoms and positive emotions after a myocardial infarction: A longitudinal analysis. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2, 8082. DOI: 10.3402/ejpt.v2i0.8082
Conway, M., & Ross, M. (1984). Getting what you want by revising what you had. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 738–748.
Cordova, M. J. (2008). Facilitating posttraumatic growth following cancer. In S. Joseph & A. Linley (Eds.), Trauma, recovery, and growth: Positive psychological perspectives on posttraumatic stress (pp. 185–207). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Das, V. (1995). Critical events. An anthropological perspective on contemporary India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Das, V. (2006). Life and words: Violence and the descent into the ordinary. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Exline, J. J., Park, C. L., Smyth, J. M., & Carey, M. P. (2011). Anger toward God: Five foundational studies emphasizing predictors, doubts about God’s existence, and adjustment to bereavement and cancer. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 129–148.
Falsetti, S. A., Resick, P. A., & Davis, J. L. (2003). Changes in religious beliefs following trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 16, 391–398.
Fernández-Liria, A., & Rodríguez Vega, B. (2006). Habilidades de entrevista para psicoterapeutas. Bilbao: Desclee de Brouwer.
Folkman, S. (2008). The case for positive emotions in the stress process. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 21, 3–14.
Fredrickson, B. L., Tugade, M. M., Waugh, C. E., & Larkin, G. R. (2003). What good are positive emotions in crisis? A prospective study of resilience and emotions following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11th, 2001. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 365–376.
Goodman, J. H. (2004). Coping with trauma and hardship among unaccompanied refugee youths from Sudan. Qualitative Health Research, 14, 1177–1196.
Helgeson, V. S., Reynolds, K. A., & Tomich, P. L. (2006). A meta-analytic review of benefit finding and growth. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 797–816.
Hobfoll, S. E., Hall, B. J., Canetti-Nism, D., Galea, S., Johnson, R. J., & Palmieri, P. A. (2007). Refining our understanding of traumatic growth in the face of terrorism: Moving from meaning cognitions to doing what is meaningful. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 56, 345–366.
Janoff-Bulman, R. (1989). Assumptive worlds and the stress of traumatic events: Applications of the schema construct. Social Cognition, 7, 113–136.
Janoff-Bulman, R. (1992). Shattered assumptions: Towards a new psychology of trauma. New York: The Free Press.
Janoff-Bulman, R. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Three explanatory models. Psychological Inquiry, 15, 30–34.
Johnson, R., & Hobfoll, S. (2007). Posttraumatic growth: Action and reaction. Applied Psychology, 56(3), 428–436.
Joseph, S. (2009). Growth following adversity: Positive psychological perspectives on posttraumatic stress. Psychological Topics, 18, 335–344.
Joseph, S. (2011). What doesn’t kill us: The new psychology of posttraumatic growth. New York: Basic Books.
Joseph, S., & Linley, P. A. (2005). Positive adjustment to threatening events: An organismic valuing theory of growth through adversity. Review of General Psychology, 9, 262–280.
Joseph, S., & Linley, P. A. (2006). Growth following adversity: Theoretical perspectives and implications for clinical practice. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 1041–1053.
Kashdan, T. B., & Rottenberg, J. (2010). Psychological flexibility as a fundamental aspect of health. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 865–878.
Kleinman, A., & Kleinman, J. (1999). The moral, the political and the medical: A sociosomatic view of suffering. In Y. Otsuka, S. Shizu, & S. Kuriyama (Eds.), Medicine and the history of the body. Tokyo: Ishiyaku Euroamerica.
Kliem, B., & Ehlers, A. (2009). Evidence for a curvilinear relationship between posttraumatic growth and posttrauma depression and PTSD in assault survivors. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22, 45–52.
Lechner, S. C., Carver, C. S., Antoni, M. H., Weaver, K. E., & Phillips, K. M. (2006). Curvilinear associations between benefit finding and psychosocial adjustment to breast cancer. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 828–840.
Leskin, G. A., Kaloupek, D. G., & Keane, T. M. (1998). Treatment for traumatic memories: Review and recommendations. Clinical Psychology Review, 18, 983–1001.
Levine, S. Z., Laufer, A., Hamama-Raz, Y., Stein, E., & Solomon, Z. (2008). Posttraumatic growth in adolescence: Examining its components and relationship with PTSD. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 21(5), 492–496.
Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2004). Positive change following trauma and adversity: A review. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17, 11–21.
Mancini, A. D., Prati, G., Bonanno, G. A. (2011). Do shattered worldviews lead to complicated grief? Prospective and longitudinal analyses. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 30(2), 184–215.
Martin-Baró, I. (1996). Writings for a liberation psychology. New York: Harvard University Press.
McHugh, T., Forbes, D., Bates, G., Hopwood, M., & Creamer, M. (2012). Anger in PTSD: Is there a need for a concept of PTSD-related posttraumatic anger? Clinical Psychology Review, 32, 93–104.
McNally, R. J. (2003). Progress and controversy in the study of posttraumatic stress disorder. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 229–252.
Ochoa, C., Sumalla, E. C., Maté, J., Castejón, V., Rodriguez, A., Blanco, I., & Gil, F. (2010). Psicoterapia positiva grupal. Hacia una atención psicosocial integral del superviviente de cáncer. Psicooncologia, 7, 7–34.
Páez, D., Basabe, N., Ubillos, S., & González, J. L. (2007). Social sharing, participation in demonstrations, emotional climate, and coping with collective violence alter the March 11th Madrid bombings. Journal of Social Issues, 63, 207–323.
Park, C. L. (2009). Overview in theoretical perspectives. In C. Park, S. Lechner, A. L. Stanton, & M. H. Antoni (Eds.), Medical illness and positive life change: Can crisis lead to personal transformation? (pp. 11–30). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Park, C. L. (2010). Making sense of the meaning literature: An integrative review of meaning making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 257–301.
Park, C. L., Cohen, L., & Murch, R. (1996). Assessment and prediction of stress-related growth. Journal of Personality, 64, 71–105.
Pérez-Sales, P. (2006). Trauma, culpa y duelo: Hacia una psicoterapia integradora. Bilbao: Desclée De Brower.
Pérez-Sales, P. (2008). Psicoterapia positiva en situaciones adversas. In C. Vázquez & G. Hervás (Eds.), Psicología Positiva Aplicada (pp. 155–190). Bilbao: Desclée De Brouwer.
Perez-Sales, P., Bacic, R., & Durán-Perez, T. (1999). Muerte y desaparición forzada en la Araucania: Una aproximación étnica. Santiago de Chile: Ediciones LOM.
Pérez-Sales, P., Eiroa-Orosa, F. J., Olivos, P., Barbero-Val, E., Fernández-Liria, A., & Vergara, M. (2012). Vivo Questionnaire: A measure of human worldviews and identity in trauma, crisis, and loss—validation and preliminary findings. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 17, 236–259.
Prati, G., & Pietrantoni, L. (2009). Optimism, social support, and coping strategies as factors contributing to posttraumatic growth: A meta-analysis. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 14, 364–388.
Punamäki, R. (2010). Posttraumatic growth in Middle Eastern context: Expression and determinants among Palestinians. In T. Weiss & R. Berger (Eds.), Posttraumatic growth and culturally competent practice: Lessons learned from around the globe (pp. 31–48). New York: Wiley.
Rubel, A. J., O’Nell, C. W., & Collado, R. (1984). Susto. A folk illness. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Sawyer, A., Ayers, S., & Field, A. P. (2010). Posttraumatic growth and adjustment among individuals with cancer and HIV/AIDS: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 436–447.
Scheper-Hughes, N. (1993). Death without weeping: The violence of everyday life in Brazil. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Scott, J. C. (1992). Domination and the arts of resistance: Hidden transcripts. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Serrano, J. P., Latorre, J. M., Gatz, M., & Montanes, J. (2004). Life review therapy using autobiographical retrieval practice for older adults with depressive symptomatology. Psychology and Aging, 19, 272–277.
Simmons, R., & Hughes, C. (Eds.). (1985). The culture-bound syndromes. Folk illnesses of psychiatric and anthropological interest. Boston: Reidel.
Splevins, K., Cohen, K., Bowley, J., & Joseph, S. (2010). Theories of posttraumatic growth: Cross-cultural perspectives. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 15, 259–277.
Stanton, A. L., Bower, J. E., & Low, C. A. (2006). Posttraumatic growth after cancer. In L. G. Calhoun & R. G. Tedeschi (Eds.), Handbook of posttraumatic growth: Research and practice (pp. 138–175). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Stockton, H., Hunt, N., & Joseph, S. (2011). Cognitive processing, rumination, and posttraumatic growth. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 24, 85–92.
Sumalla, E. C., Ochoa, C., & Blanco, I. (2009). Posttraumatic growth in cancer: Reality or illusion? Clinical Psychology Review, 29, 24–33.
Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (1996). The posttraumatic growth inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9, 455–471.
Tedeschi, R. G., & Kilmer, R. P. (2005). Assessing strengths, resilience, and growth to guide clinical interventions. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36, 230–237.
Tedeschi, R. G., & McNally, R. J. (2011). Can we facilitate posttraumatic growth in combat veterans? American Psychologist, 66, 19–24.
Tennen, H., & Affleck, G. (2002). Benefit-finding and benefit-reminding. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 584–597). New York: Oxford University Press.
Tennen, H., & Affleck, G. (2009). Assessing positive life change: In search of meticulous methods. In C. Park, S. Lechner, A. L. Stanton, & M. H. Antoni (Eds.), Medical illness and positive life change: Can crisis lead to personal transformation? (pp. 31–49). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Van Loey, N. E., van Son, M. J., van der Heijden, P. G., & Ellis, I. M. (2008). PTSD in persons with burns: An explorative study examining relationships with attributed responsibility, negative and positive emotional states. Burns, 34, 1082–1089.
Vázquez, C. (2005). Stress reactions of the general population after the terrorist attacks of S11 (USA) and M11 (Madrid, Spain): Myths and realities. Annuary of Clinical and Health Psychology, 1, 9–25.
Vázquez, C., & Hervás, G. (2010). Terrorist attacks and benefit finding: The role of positive and negative emotions. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5, 154–163.
Vázquez, C., & Páez, D. (2010). Posttraumatic growth in Spain. In T. Weiss & R. Berger (Eds.), Posttraumatic growth and culturally competent practice: Lessons learned from around the globe (pp. 97–112). New York: Wiley.
Vázquez, C., Cervellón, P., Pérez Sales, P., Vidales, D., & Gaborit, M. (2005). Positive emotions in earthquake survivors in El Salvador (2001). Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 19, 313–328.
Vázquez, C., Pérez-Sales, P., & Hervás, G. (2008). Positive effects of terrorism and posttraumatic growth: An individual and community perspective. In S. Joseph & A. Linley (Eds.), Trauma, recovery, and growth: Positive psychological perspectives on posttraumatic stress (pp. 63–91). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Walter, M., & Bates, G. (2012). Posttraumatic growth and recovery from post traumatic stress disorder. In V. Olisah (Ed.), Essential notes in psychiatry (pp. 143–186). Rijeka, Croacia: InTech. Available at: http://www.intechopen.com/books/essential-notes-in-psychiatry
Weiss, T. (2004a). Correlates of posttraumatic growth in husbands of breast cancer survivors. Psycho-Oncology, 12, 260–268.
Weiss, T. (2004b). Correlates of posttraumatic growth in married breast cancer survivors. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23, 733–746.
Weiss, T., & Berger, R. (2010). Posttraumatic growth and culturally competent practice: Lessons learned from around the globe. New York: Wiley.
Wirtz, D., Kruger, J., Scollon, C. N., & Diener, E. (2003). What to do on spring break? The role of predicted, online, and remembered experience in future choice. Psychological Science, 14, 520–524.
Wong, P. T. P., & Wong, L. C. J. (2006). Handbook of multicultural perspectives on stress and coping. New York: Springer.
Zoellner, T., & Maercker, A. (2006). Posttraumatic growth in clinical psychology: A critical review and introduction of a two component model. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 626–653.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vázquez, C., Pérez-Sales, P., Ochoa, C. (2014). Posttraumatic Growth: Challenges from a Cross-Cultural Viewpoint. In: Fava, G., Ruini, C. (eds) Increasing Psychological Well-being in Clinical and Educational Settings. Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8669-0_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8669-0_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-8668-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-8669-0
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)