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Abstract
Objective: The controversy regarding the nature of posttraumatic growth (PTG) includes two main competing claims: one which argues that PTG reflects authentic positive changes and the other which argues that PTG reflects illusionary defenses. The former also suggests that PTG evolves from shattered world assumptions (WAs) and that the co-occurrence of high PTG and negative WAs among trauma survivors reflects reconstruction of an integrative belief system. The present study aimed to test these claims by investigating, for the first time, the mediating role of dissociation in the relation between PTG and WAs. Method: Former prisoners of war (ex-POWs; n = 158) and comparable controls (n = 106) were assessed 38 years after the Yom Kippur War. Results: Ex-POWs endorsed more negative WAs and higher PTG and dissociation compared to controls. Ex-POWs with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) endorsed negative WAs and a higher magnitude of PTG and dissociation, compared to both ex-POWs without PTSD and controls. WAs were negatively correlated with dissociation and positively correlated with PTG. PTG was positively correlated with dissociation. Moreover, dissociation fully mediated the association between WAs and PTG. Conclusion: These findings imply that PTG might reflect illusory defenses and raise questions regarding the integration between the co-occurrence of high PTG and negative WAs among trauma survivors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Yael Lahav
Yael Lahav, PhD, Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Psychology, National Centre of Psychotraumatology, University of Southern Denmark and Research fellow, I-Core Research Center for Mass Trauma, Tel-Aviv University, Israel. Zahava Solomon, Phd, I-Core Research Center for Mass Trauma, Tel-Aviv University, Israel and Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
Elisheva S. Bellin
Elisheva S. Bellin is affiliated with the I-Core Research Center for Mass Trauma, Tel Aviv, Israel, and the Psychology Department, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York.
Zahava Solomon
Elisheva S. Bellin is affiliated with the I-Core Research Center for Mass Trauma, Tel Aviv, Israel, and the Psychology Department, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York.