Prevalence and factors of posttraumatic growth among Hubei residents during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

The adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health has been widely concerned, but the research on positive psychological factors is insufficient, this study aims to investigate the prevalence and factors of posttraumatic growth (PTG) among residents in the worst-hit areas of China (Hubei Province). We were conducted in three disaster areas with different severity in Hubei Province three months after the outbreak, and the data were from 575 respondents. Instruments included the simplified Chinese version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (C-PTGI) and the public health emergency psychological questionnaire. Nonparametric tests, Spearman correlation analyses, and multiple linear regression equations were used to analyze the data. The results showed that three months after the outbreak of COVID-19, the PTG of Hubei residents was at a low level, and their sense of fear was the most prominent, with a positive detection rate of 82.09%. According to the results of this study, high PTG levels were associated with high levels of fear, married and healthcare providers, while low levels of PTG were associated with serious chronic diseases, males, good economic status, and poor prevention and control measures. Government departments should strengthen social support for residents, carry out necessary stress management training to help them correctly deal with negative emotions and promote their personal growth.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• posttraumatic growth
• residents
• cross-sectional

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to appreciate all participants in the study, as well as local community workers and volunteers, for supporting the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author Contributions

Guiling Liu conception and design, collection and assembly of data, data analysis and interpretation, manuscript writing. Li Zeng conception and design, edited the language. Jialin Wang conception and design, administrative support. Fen Feng and Fang Wang provision of study materials, collection and assembly of data. Man Jin and Wanqing Xie data analysis and interpretation. Ping Tang and Yinong Qiu collection and assembly of data. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Data Availability Statement

The date that supports the finding of this study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Number: 2020-KL084). Prior to the study, we also obtained the informed consent of the participants. Participants were informed that they could withdraw at any time. All data is treated in confidence.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by The Primary Health Development Research Center of Sichuan Province Program (Grant No. SWFZ22-Z-09) and The Sichuan Provincial Education Department humanities and social sciences key research base-Sichuan Hospital Management and Development Research Center of Southwest Medical University (Grant No. SCYG2022-12); The Primary Health Development Research Center of Sichuan Province Program.