Abstract
This study tested the extent to which negative appraisals following traumatic events and the centrality of traumatic events predicted posttraumatic growth (PTG; CitationTedeschi & Calhoun, 1996). Participants were 405 undergraduates at a Midwestern university who reported experiencing at least one traumatic event. Regression analyses indicated that the centrality of the event was a significant predictor for all five domains of PTG. Negative appraisals of the world were related to some domains of growth, but neither negative cognitions about the self nor self-blame was a significant predictor of any of the growth domains. Interpretation of these results is considered in light of the consistencies with CitationJanoff-Bulman's (2004) explanatory models of development of PTG.
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