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What doesn't kill you makes you stronger: A national study of U.S. military veterans
Jack Tsai1, Natalie P Mota2, Steven M Southwick3
1Veterans Affairs New England Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, 950 Campbell Ave., 151D, West Haven, CT 06516, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Background:
Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is commonly observed among trauma survivors. However, few studies have treated PTG as multi-dimensional and examined how different PTG dimensions may be protective against the negative effects of future trauma.
Methods:
Using a nationally representative web-based survey of 1057 U.S. military veterans followed for two years, we examined whether different PTG dimensions had a protective effect on the severity and diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the face of new traumatic life events.
Results:
Greater scores on the Personal Strength domain of the PTG Inventory-Short Form at baseline was associated with reduced severity (β=-.05, p<.05) and incidence (OR=.68, 95% CI=.50-.93) of PTSD at a two-year follow-up.
Limitations:
Results are associational and causality cannot be inferred so replication is needed.
Conclusions:
This study highlights the multi-dimensional nature of PTG and demonstrates a salubrious effect of trauma-related gains in personal strength on incident PTSD.
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