Investigating the Impact of a Psychoeducational Program on Self-Disclosure, Posttraumatic Growth and Resilience for...

Adolescents experience various life events. Among them, some negative life events may give an opportunity for adolescents to experience personal growth, potentially known as posttraumatic growth (PTG), through processes such as receiving psychological education or sharing one's experiences with someone. The current study aimed to examine the short-term effects of a psychoeducational program and the role of self-disclosure in PTG and resilience. Adolescents (Mage = 16.91, SD = 0.73) were randomly assigned into one of two conditions. Participants in the psychoeducational condition discussed various examples and key factors of PTG whereas participants in the control group discussed the general topics of psychology. Three weeks later, they completed questions assessing self-disclosure (i.e., if they had spoken to anyone about the event they experienced), PTG, and resilience, if they reported that they experienced an impactful, negative life event (e.g., verbal aggression) that involved hurting someone, during the past three weeks (N = 194; 138 females, 56 males). Results indicated that neither PTG nor resilience differed by conditions. Additionally, regardless of conditions, those who spoke about the event reported higher PTG but not resilience than those who did not. Our findings demonstrate that while the psychoeducational program did not have an immediate effect on PTG or resilience, speaking to someone about their event was associated with higher PTG. The lack of intervention effects could be due to the brevity of the program as well as the unique focus of negative life event (i.e., the idea of hurting others could lead to an opportunity for self-reflection and personal growth). The current research has implications for adolescent trauma-informed care for clinicians and educators, highlighting the important role of self-disclosure, as well as the limited impact of brief psychoeducational programs when the outcome was centered on PTG and resilience. Future studies should refine both program assessments and interventions for adolescents who intentionally or unintentionally have hurt others and consider the mechanisms behind the significant roles of self-disclosure on PTG and resilience within trauma-informed care for adolescents.