Dimensions of posttraumatic growth in a German-speaking sample using mixed methods

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flowchart of the convergent parallel design (data-validation variant) adapted from Creswell and Plano Clark (2011).

Table 1. Description of the trauma or worst event comparing women and men (N = 185†), and total (N = 188).

	German-speaking adults
	Women (n = 123) frequencies (%)	Men (n = 62) frequencies (%)	Total (n = 188) frequencies (%)
Death (e.g. sudden death of a loved one)	27 (22%)	13 (21%)	40 (21,3%)
Adverse childhood experiences (according to Felitti et al., 1998)	21 (17,1%)	6 (9,7%)	28 (15,1%)
Suicide (e.g. finding the dead person)	15 (12,2%)	4 (6,5%)	20 (10,9%)
Accident (e.g. cause of an accident)	8 (6,5%)	9 (14,5%)	17 (9,0%)
Impairment of health condition (e.g. own health or the one of loved ones)	11 (8,9%)	4 (6,5%)	15 (8,2%)
Separation from partner	10 (8,1%)	3 (4,8%)	13 (7,0%)
Mental disorder (e.g. self or loved ones)	6 (4,9%)	5 (8,1%)	11 (6,0%)
Accumulation of events	5 (4,1%)	4 (6,5%)	10 (5,4%)
Mobbing	5 (4,1%)	2 (3,2%)	7 (3,8%)
Conflicts self-involved	3 (2,4%)	3 (4,8%)	6 (3,3%)
Critical life event	3 (2,4%)	3 (4,8%)	6 (3,3%)
Potentially lethal events (e.g. canoeing accident without being a swimmer)	2 (1,6%)	2 (3,2%)	4 (2,2%)

^†There is no information about gender for 3 subjects.

Table 2. Comparison of means and standard deviations of PTGI domains comparing trauma vs. non-trauma, women vs. men.

PTGI domains	Trauma (n = 51) mean±SD^a	Non-trauma (n = 128) mean±SD^a	t-test (df, p-values)	Women (n = 119) mean±SD^a	Men (n = 60) mean±SD^a	t-test (df, p-values)	PTGI sum scores total sample (n = 179^†) mean±SD^a	PTGI mean scores total sample (N = 179^†) mean±SD^b	Total qualitative sample (N = 54) assignments of codings
Personal strength	10.17 ± 5.62	10.47 ± 4.87	t(177) = −.355, p = .723	10.18 ± 5.29	10.80 ± 4.66	t(177) = −.763, p = .447	10.39 ± 5.08	2.62 ± 1.28	43
Relating to others	14.21 ± 8.43^c	17.62 ± 8.35^c	t(177) = −2.458, p = .015	17.12 ± 8.55	15.71 ± 8.37	t(177) = 1.048, p = .296	16.65 ± 8.49	2.38 ± 1.21	57
Appreciation of life	6.84 ± 4.60	7.18 ± 3.61	t(177) = −.531, p = .596	7.52 ± 4.04^c	6.21 ± 3.48^c	t(177) = 2.143, p = .033	7.08 ± 3.90	2.38 ± 1.31	61
New possibilities	9.64 ± 6.59	10.00 ± 6.45	t(177) = −.335, p = .738	10.23 ± 6.27	9.25 ± 6.88	t(177) = .960, p = .338	9.90 ± 6.48	1.99 ± 1.30	16
Spiritual change	1.66 ± 3.01	2.07 ± 2.88	t(177) = −.834, p = .405,	2.19 ± 3.11	1.48 ± 2.43	t(177) = 1.542, p = .125	1.95 ± 2.91	0.99 ± 1.48	6
PTGI total	42.54 ± 22.89	47.36 ± 20.41	t(177) = −1.376, p = .171	47.26 ± 20.92	43.46 ± 21.69	t(177) = 1.134, p = .258	45.99 ± 21.19	2.20 ± 1.01

^†Missing PTGI values of 9 participants.

^aMean and SD calculated for the PTGI using the sum of the scale ratings. Range of sum PTGI scores: total PTGI (0 to 105), personal strength (0–20), relating to others (0–35), appreciation of life (0–15), new possibilities (0–25), spiritual change (0–10).

^bMean and SD calculated for the PTGI.

^cSignificant contrasts, Bonferroni adjusted.

Table 3. Domains, dimensions, and codes of PTG in a German-speaking sample.

Domains, dimensions, and codes
Domains	Dimensions	Codes
Positive life changes after an adversity (183)^a	Appreciation of life (61)	Gratitude^b (4)
	Relating to others (57)
	Personal strength (43)
	New possibilities (16)	Inspiration^b (4)
	Spirituality (6)
Lessons learned^c (80)	Conscious preparedness (31)	Adequate behaviour in stressful situations (14); preparation for future dangerous situations (7); lessons learnt from experiences (7); endurance (3)
	Authenticity (26)	To deal with oneself (13); to be yourself (7); to listen to oneself (6)
	Being realistic (17)	Facing problems (10); critical view on former life (7)
	Being valued (6)
Processing of adversity with potential growth experiences^c (21)	Becoming aware of (own) mortality (16)	Finality of life (8); confrontation with death (5); re-assessing omnipotence (3)
	Assessing potentially disruptive event (5)	Dialectic (2); rumination (2); beliefs challenged (1)

^aNumber in brackets refers to the assigned codings.

^bNewly developed codes.

^cNewly developed domain with its corresponding newly developed dimensions and codes.

Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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