Posttraumatic Growth Among Traumatic Injury Survivors

Following a traumatic injury, individuals are at higher risk for the development of psychological and physical health problems, such as posttraumatic stress, while the incidence and precipitating factors that lead to these negative outcomes continue to be a popular area of research. By contrast, an estimated two-thirds of survivors remain unaffected by these outcomes and are qualified as "resilient." Despite its prevalence, significantly less is known about factors associated with resilience following traumatic injury, including the development of posttraumatic growth (PTG), a unique outcome associated with experiencing positive outcomes. Although prior reviews have documented the incidence and unique ways in which PTG manifests in other trauma samples, less is known about PTG in traumatic injury survivors. Here, a scoping review was conducted: four databases of peer-reviewed articles available in English were queried, and 31 articles describing PTG in traumatic injury samples were reviewed. This scoping review summarizes the incidence of PTG in traumatic injury survivors and describes its associated sociodemographic and injury factors, qualitative findings, relationship with psychopathology, quality of life, coping strategies, and treatment outcomes. In addition, we call attention to affective and cognitive processes associated with PTG as it manifests specifically to traumatic injury survivors. Implications for future research and clinical application are discussed.