1. E FFECTS O F T RAUMA I NTENSITY O N P OSTTRAUMATIC G ROWTH: D EPRESSION, S OCIAL S UPPORT, C OPING AND G ENDER Jennifer Steward

2. T RAUMA Study of how events effect people National Comorbidity Study (Kessler, Chiu, Demler, & Walters, 2005)  60% of Men  51% of Women Aftermath  Distress  Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

3. P TSD R ELATIONSHIPS Common PTSD Correlates: Meta Analysis (Helgeson, Reynolds, & Tomich, 2006)  Depression  Trauma Severity  Female more likely than males Lack of Social Support has also been shown to be related to greater levels of PTSD (Ozer et. al, 2008; Brewin, Andrews & Valentine, 2000).

4. P OSTTRAUMATIC G ROWTH Positive consequences following trauma The ability to thrive after experiencing a traumatic event, with individuals showing an increase in emotional, cognitive and/or psychological resources. (Wild & Paivio, 2003) Two separate continuums, as opposed to two sides of the same continuum. (Borja, Callahan, & Long, 2006)  Variables can be correlates of both PTG and PTSD

5. C URRENT F INDINGS I N P TG Depression  Negative relationship, after two years (Helgeson, Reynolds, & Tomich, 2006) Coping  Positively related to problem- and emotion-focused coping (Linley & Joseph, 2004) Social Support- Inconsistent results Weiss (2002)- Social support predicts PTG Linley & Joseph (2004)- Does not, but satisfaction with social support does. Gender- Women are shown to experience more growth (Helgeson, Reynolds, & Tomich, 2006)

6. T RAUMA I NTENSITY Large amount of variance in the experience of the trauma  Literature evaluation of traumatic events  Subjective experience of the trauma “There is no single profile of a [trauma victim], as the extent and the nature of the impact varies from person to person” (Futa, Nash, Hansen, and Garbin, 2003)

7. T RAUMA I NTENSITY & P TG Studies have shown that events perceived as more severe were related to more PTG. (Helgeson, Reynolds, & Tomich, 2006; Morris et al., 2005)

8. P URPOSE O F T HE S TUDY Observe the effect trauma severity has on the relationship between PTG and depression, social support, coping strategies, and gender. Clarify the relationships with PTG

9. M ETHODS U SED 598 UNT students were surveyed using an online mass testing experiment through the UNT Psychology Department  All students received partial course credit for their participation Questionnaires Used  Traumatic Events Questionnaire  PTSD Checklist  Posttraumatic Growth Inventory  Brief Cope  Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology  Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support

10. A NALYSIS Creating trauma categories  Two different splits Median Split- Score of 25 Clinical Value- Score of 44 (Blanchard, Jones-Alexander, Buckley, & Forneris, 1996 ) Gender- Looked at mean PTGI scores for both genders are each split.

11. O UR F INDINGS Median Split  Depression -  Coping -  Social Support- Clinical Split  All variables showed even stronger amplification of PTG

12. O UR F INDINGS ( CONT.) o Gender Differences  Median split- no significant differences  Clinical split-Low trauma group = Women had more PTG High trauma group = Men had more PTG PCL Scores

13. W HAT I T M EANS/ C ONCLUSIONS Subjective trauma severity matters Clarification of PTG relationships in the literature Implications towards future research

14. R EFERENCES Blanchard, E.B., Jones-Alexander, J., Buckley, & T.C., Forneris, C.A. (1996). Psychometric properties of the ptsd checklist (PCL). Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34(8), 669-673. Borja, S.E., Callahan, J.L., & Long, P.J. (2006). Positive and negative adjustment and social support of sexual assault survivors. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19(6), 905-914. Brewin, C.R., Andrews, B., & Valentine, J.D. (2000). Meta-analysis of risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(5), 748-766. Futa, K.T., Nash, C.L., Hansen, D.J., & Garbin, C.P. (2003). Adult survivors of childhood abuse: An analysis of coping mechanisms used for stressful childhood memories and current stressors. Journal of Family Violence, 18, 227-239. 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(5), 797-816. Linley, P.A. & Joseph, S. (2004). Positive change following trauma and adversity: A review. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17, 11-21. Morris, B.A., Shakespeare-Finch, J., Rieck, M., Newbery, J. (2005). Multidimensional nature of posttraumatic growth in an Australian population. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 18(5), 575-585. Ozer, E.J., Best, S.R., Lipsey, T.L., & Weiss, D.S. (2008). Predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and symptoms in adults: A meta-analysis. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy, S(1), 3-36. Tedeschi, R. & Calhoun, L. (1996). The posttraumatic growth inventory: Measure the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9, 455-471. Weiss, T. (2002). Posttraumatic growth in women with breast cancer and their husbands: An ntersubjective validation study. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 20, 65-80. Wild, N.D. & Paivio, S.D. (2003). Psychological adjustment, coping, and emotional regulation as predictors of posttraumatic growth. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, & Trauma, 8(4), 97-122.