Research
Posttraumatic growth, posttraumatic stress disorder and resilience of motor vehicle accident survivors
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* Corresponding author: Yutaka Matsuoka yutaka@ncnp.go.jp
1 Department of Psychiatry, National Disaster Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan
2 Clinical Research Institute, National Disaster Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan
3 Department of Adult Mental Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan
4 CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Saitama, Japan
5 Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyushu University, Japan
BioPsychoSocial Medicine 2010, 4:7 doi:10.1186/1751-0759-4-7
Published: 24 June 2010Abstract
Background
Although some previous studies have suggested that posttraumatic growth (PTG) is comprised of several factors with different properties, few have examined both the association between PTG and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and between PTG and resilience, focusing on each of the factors of PTG. This study aimed to examine the hypothesis that some factors of PTG, such as personal strength, relate to resilience, whereas other factors, such as appreciation of life, relate to PTSD symptoms among Japanese motor vehicle accident (MVA) survivors.
Methods
This cross-sectional study was performed with 118 MVA survivors at 18 months post MVA. Data analyzed included self-reporting questionnaire scores on the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), the Impact of Event Scale- Revised (IES-R), and the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scale, which is one of the most widely used scales for measuring resilience. Correlations between scores on the PTGI and IES-R, the PTGI and SOC scale, and the IES-R and SOC scale were established by calculating Spearman's correlation coefficients.
Results
PTGI was positively correlated with both SOC and PTSD symptoms, in spite of an inverse relationship between SOC and PTSD symptoms. Relating to others, new possibilities, and personal strength on the PTGI were correlated positively with SOC, and spiritual change and appreciation of life on the PTGI were positively correlated with PTSD symptoms.
Conclusions
Some factors of PTG were positively correlated with resilience, which can be regarded as an outcome of coping success, whereas other factors of PTG were positively correlated with PTSD symptoms, which can be regarded as signifying coping effort in the face of enduring distress. These findings contribute to our understanding of the psychological change experienced by MVA survivors, and to raising clinicians' awareness of the possibility that PTG represents both coping effort coexisting with distress and outcome of coping success.