Is the Association Between Posttraumatic Stress and Posttraumatic Growth Moderated by Defense Styles?

It is suggested that sometimes self-reports of posttraumatic growth may be indicative of illusory self-protective mechanisms. It was hypothesized that self-reports of posttraumatic growth would be associated with defense styles. In addition, it was tested whether the association between self-reports of posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress would be moderated by defense styles. Participants (n = 132) completed the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Defense Styles Questionnaire-40, and the Impact of Event Scale. It was found that scores on the PTGI were moderately associated with a neurotic defense style. The association between the PTGI and posttraumatic stress was moderated significantly within the nonparametric moderation analysis. The results may indicate that self-reports of posttraumatic growth are sometimes connected to defensive processes that may affect emotional and cognitive processing. The results provide preliminary support that the direction of the association between posttraumatic stress and posttraumatic growth could be a function of defensive processes. However, only the nonparametric analysis was statistically significant and further research is needed.