Post Traumatic Stress and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder gets a lots of press. Yet Post Traumatic Growth is more common. What is Post Traumatic Growth? While it may be mistaken for resilience, they are not the same. Resiliency is one's ability to bounce back. Post Traumatic Growth occurs after experiencing a traumatic event. There is an inventory associated with it - the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory of trauma. The inventory is useful in "assessing positive outcomes reported by persons who have experienced traumatic events". The inventory scales 21 item ranging from New Possibilities, Relating to Others, Personal Strength, Spiritual Change, and Appreciation of Life.
"Women tend to report more benefits than do men, and persons who have experienced traumatic events report more positive change than do persons who have not experienced extraordinary events. The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory is modestly related to optimism and extraversion. The scale appears to have utility in determining how successful individuals, coping with the aftermath of trauma, are in reconstructing or strengthening their perceptions of self, others, and the meaning of events." (J Trauma Stress. 1996 Jul;9(3):455-71. doi: 10.1007/BF02103658)
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