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Meaning and Posttraumatic Growth Among Survivors of the September 2013 Colorado Floods
Author(s) -
Dursun Pinar,
Steger Michael F.,
Bentele Christoph,
Schulenberg Stefan E.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.22344
Subject(s) - posttraumatic growth , psychology , meaning (existential) , vitality , natural disaster , distress , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , social psychology , psychotherapist , philosophy , physics , theology , meteorology
In the wake of significant adversity, a range of recovery outcomes are possible, from prolonged distress to minimal effects on functioning and even psychological growth. Finding meaning in one's life is thought to facilitate optimal recovery from such adversity. Research on psychological growth and recovery often focuses on the daily hassles or significant traumas of convenience samples or on people's psychological recovery from medical illness. A small body of research is developing to test theories of growth among survivors of natural disasters. The present study of 57 survivors of the 2013 Colorado floods tested the incremental relations between posttraumatic growth (PTG) and dimensions of meaning in life, vitality, and perceived social support. The most consistent relations observed were among the one dimension of meaning—search for meaning—perceived social support, and PTG. Despite the limitations of this study, we conclude that search for meaning in life may be an important part of recovery from natural disasters, floods being one example.