The Curvilinear Relationships Between Posttraumatic Growth and Posttraumatic Stress, Depression, and Anxiety

The literature suggests that the relationship between posttraumatic growth (PTG) and posttraumatic stress (PTS) is curvilinear, and that type or severity of trauma may affect this relationship. The relationship between depression, anxiety, and PTG is understudied. Participants (N = 541) were emerging adult students at a southeastern United States university who had been exposed to one or more posttraumatic stress disorder diagnostic Criterion A events. Participants completed a cross-sectional survey with self-report scales on traumatic event exposure, event severity, PTG, PTS, depression, anxiety, and meaning in life. Controlling for meaning in life, gender, and trauma severity, regression analyses revealed curvilinear PTS predicted linear PTG. A different curvilinear relationship was found for depression/anxiety and PTG, in which curvilinear PTG predicted linear depression/anxiety. The curvilinear model of PTS and PTG supported Park's meaning-making model, that recovery from PTS, through meaning-making, results in PTG. The curvilinear relationship between depression/anxiety and PTG replicated the minimal literature on depression and PTG, that many survivors experience PTG in the absence of clinically significant depression or anxiety.