Abstract
Purpose: Our purpose was to examine the association between stressful life events and posttraumatic growth, and whether this relationship is modified by satisfaction with life, gratitude, or interpersonal support. Methods: Posttraumatic growth was assessed using the posttraumatic growth inventory which measures positive growth following traumatic events. Stressful life events were measured using the Recent Life Changes Questionnaire which includes five subfactors of stress: health, work, home and family, personal and social, and financial stressors. Analysis of variance and covariance were utilized to compare mean levels of posttraumatic growth across quartiles of stressful life event scores and to assess associations stratified by potential modifying factors. Results: Our study consists of 111 officers (27 women and 84 men) from a police agency in the New Orleans geographical area. The association between stressful life events and posttraumatic growth was statistically significant. Adjusted mean posttraumatic growth total score increased across increasing quartiles of stress scores (37.4, 33.2, 43.3, and 51.7, respectively). Among the five subfactors, only personal and social support was positively associated with posttraumatic growth. The association between stressful life events and posttraumatic growth was modified by satisfaction with life, gratitude, and interpersonal support. After stratification, stressful life events were significantly and positively associated with posttraumatic growth among officers with high scores in satisfaction with life, gratitude, and interpersonal support. Conclusion: These results indicate that an increasing number of stressful life events are associated with greater posttraumatic growth, particularly among individuals with high levels of satisfaction with life, gratitude, and interpersonal support.
