Coping and posttraumatic growth: a longitudinal comparison of two alternative views
Purpose: The current study aimed to examine two possible explanations for why higher levels of posttraumatic growth (PTG) were repeatedly found to be predicted by both approach - and avoidance - oriented coping, focusing on individuals recently diagnosed with a spinal cord injury (SCI). First, negat...
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| Format: | Article |
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American Psychological Association
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48832/ |
| _version_ | 1848797859106783232 |
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| author | Kunz, Simon Joseph, Stephen Geyh, Szilvia Peter, Claudio |
| author_facet | Kunz, Simon Joseph, Stephen Geyh, Szilvia Peter, Claudio |
| author_sort | Kunz, Simon |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Purpose: The current study aimed to examine two possible explanations for why higher levels of posttraumatic growth (PTG) were repeatedly found to be predicted by both approach - and avoidance - oriented coping, focusing on individuals recently diagnosed with a spinal cord injury (SCI). First, negative changes (posttraumatic depreciation, PTD) may moderate the association between PTG and the two types of coping indicating that PTG reflects avoidance of PTD for some individuals, but a constructive view on posttraumatic life changes for others. Second, it may be that a flexible use of different types of coping strategies (coping flexibility) enables the experience of PTG. Method: A sample consisting of 122 patients admitted to one of the four national SCI rehabilitation centers was examined in a longitudinal study. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the two competing explanations. Results: Both approach - (β = .30, p = .001) and avoidance - oriented coping (β = .23, p = .011) measured three months after SCI diagnosis predicted higher PTG levels at discharge from clinical rehabilitation. PTD did not moderate the relationship between approach - (β = .03, p = .743) and avoidance – oriented coping (β = - .04, p = .656) and PTG. However, coping flexibility (β = .23, p= .012) predicted higher PTG levels. Conclusion: These results suggest that a flexible use of different types of coping strategies potentially according to situational demands may explain findings that PTG was predicted by both approach-and avoidance-oriented coping. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:10:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-48832 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:10:34Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | American Psychological Association |
| recordtype | eprints |
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| spelling | nottingham-488322020-05-04T19:18:00Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48832/ Coping and posttraumatic growth: a longitudinal comparison of two alternative views Kunz, Simon Joseph, Stephen Geyh, Szilvia Peter, Claudio Purpose: The current study aimed to examine two possible explanations for why higher levels of posttraumatic growth (PTG) were repeatedly found to be predicted by both approach - and avoidance - oriented coping, focusing on individuals recently diagnosed with a spinal cord injury (SCI). First, negative changes (posttraumatic depreciation, PTD) may moderate the association between PTG and the two types of coping indicating that PTG reflects avoidance of PTD for some individuals, but a constructive view on posttraumatic life changes for others. Second, it may be that a flexible use of different types of coping strategies (coping flexibility) enables the experience of PTG. Method: A sample consisting of 122 patients admitted to one of the four national SCI rehabilitation centers was examined in a longitudinal study. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the two competing explanations. Results: Both approach - (β = .30, p = .001) and avoidance - oriented coping (β = .23, p = .011) measured three months after SCI diagnosis predicted higher PTG levels at discharge from clinical rehabilitation. PTD did not moderate the relationship between approach - (β = .03, p = .743) and avoidance – oriented coping (β = - .04, p = .656) and PTG. However, coping flexibility (β = .23, p= .012) predicted higher PTG levels. Conclusion: These results suggest that a flexible use of different types of coping strategies potentially according to situational demands may explain findings that PTG was predicted by both approach-and avoidance-oriented coping. American Psychological Association 2017-11-17 Article PeerReviewed Kunz, Simon, Joseph, Stephen, Geyh, Szilvia and Peter, Claudio (2017) Coping and posttraumatic growth: a longitudinal comparison of two alternative views. Rehabilitation Psychology, 63 (2). pp. 240-249. ISSN 1939-1544 spinal cord injuries ; posttraumatic growth; coping flexibility; posttraumatic depreciation; psychological adaptation http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-26104-006 doi:10.1037/rep0000205 doi:10.1037/rep0000205 |
| spellingShingle | spinal cord injuries ; posttraumatic growth; coping flexibility; posttraumatic depreciation; psychological adaptation Kunz, Simon Joseph, Stephen Geyh, Szilvia Peter, Claudio Coping and posttraumatic growth: a longitudinal comparison of two alternative views |
| title | Coping and posttraumatic growth: a longitudinal comparison of two alternative views |
| title_full | Coping and posttraumatic growth: a longitudinal comparison of two alternative views |
| title_fullStr | Coping and posttraumatic growth: a longitudinal comparison of two alternative views |
| title_full_unstemmed | Coping and posttraumatic growth: a longitudinal comparison of two alternative views |
| title_short | Coping and posttraumatic growth: a longitudinal comparison of two alternative views |
| title_sort | coping and posttraumatic growth: a longitudinal comparison of two alternative views |
| topic | spinal cord injuries ; posttraumatic growth; coping flexibility; posttraumatic depreciation; psychological adaptation |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48832/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48832/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48832/ |