Refining our ability to measure posttraumatic growth

Some investigators question the extent to which the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) measures perceived growth versus genuine positive change. The present study examined whether the PTGI is more likely to assess changes in emotional and psychological functioning when only including events high in event centrality. Event centrality refers to the extent to which an individual construes a stressful experience as a core part of the identity. Following the methodology of Frazier et al. (2009), scores on the PTGI were compared with changes in measures of emotional and psychological functioning. When the authors examined events low in event centrality, their results mimicked those of Frazier et al., such that the associations between PTGI scores and the measures of emotional and psychological functioning were very small. In addition, PTGI scores were associated with greater levels of stress, depression, and anxiety. However, when we examined events that were high in event centrality, we found that the PTGI correlates highly with measures of emotional and psychological functioning and were associated with less stress, depression, and anxiety. These findings were observed both cross-sectionally and prospectively. The results suggest a methodology to improve our ability to measure growth from trauma.