PREDICTORS OF POST-TRAUMATIC GROWTH IN HOMELAND WAR VETERANS

Over the last twenty years, as a result of events in recent Croatian history, the interest as well as the number of studies on the effects of exposure to war experiences have grown. Previous research focused mainly on post-traumatic stress disorder as a response to war experience and trauma. Although traumatic experience has undisputed negative consequences, post-traumatic growth may also occur as a separate aspect of human functioning resulting from trauma. Post-traumatic growth generally involves changes in personal strength, relationships with others, and life philosophy. Some personality traits and social factors can serve as protective factors after objective traumatic circumstances, i.e. exposure to war experience, and contribute to experiencing and personal growth. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the predictive role of some personal factors (emotional regulation and control, religiousness) and environmental factors (social support) in explaining post-traumatic growth in Homeland War veterans, and to examine the differences in post-traumatic growth (PTG) levels both in subjects who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and those who have not. A total of 204 Homeland War veterans aged 40-77 participated in the study. The results obtained indicate that higher post-traumatic growth is recorded in veterans whose regulation of negative emotions is poor, who are more religious and have more social support from their loved ones, even though the correlation is relatively low. The most significant variable in the prediction of post-traumatic growth is religiousness. An analysis of differences in the levels of post-traumatic growth in veterans with and without PTSD, as well as those above and below the cut-off score on the PTSD questionnaire, indicates higher post-traumatic growth in veterans who report having PTSD.