Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T07:09:07.320Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Post-Traumatic Growth Following Politically Motivated Acts of Violence: 10 Years Post Injury

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

Carolyn E. Hawley ,
Amy J. Armstrong ,
Shimon Shiri ,
Jenna Czarnota ,
Sara Blumenfeld ,
Isabella Schwartz  and
Zeev Meiner
Carolyn E. Hawley*
Affiliation:
Department of Rehabilitation Counseling, School of Allied Health Professions, Virginia Commonwealth University, VA, USA
Amy J. Armstrong
Affiliation:
Department of Rehabilitation Counseling, School of Allied Health Professions, Virginia Commonwealth University, VA, USA
Shimon Shiri
Affiliation:
Department of Physical and Medical Rehabilitation, Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus Campus, Jerusalem, Israel
Jenna Czarnota
Affiliation:
Department of Biostatistics, Virginia Commonwealth University, VA, USA
Sara Blumenfeld
Affiliation:
Department of Physical and Medical Rehabilitation, Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus Campus, Jerusalem, Israel
Isabella Schwartz
Affiliation:
Department of Physical and Medical Rehabilitation, Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus Campus, Jerusalem, Israel
Zeev Meiner
Affiliation:
Department of Physical and Medical Rehabilitation, Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus Campus, Jerusalem, Israel
*
Address for correspondence: Carolyn E. Hawley Ph.D., CRC; Associate Professor Department of Rehabilitation Counseling, School of Allied Health Professionals Virginia Commonwealth University P.O. Box 980330; Richmond, VA 23298, USA. E-mail: cehawley@vcu.edu
Get access

Abstract

The study explored posttraumatic growth (PTG) and its relationship with the quality of life (QOL), posttraumatic stress, and resilience among survivors of terror attacks over 10 years post-injury. Participants were patients of Hadassah Medical Center, Israel, who were injured in terror attacks between 2000 and 2004 during the second Intifada. Variables of interest were obtained from a survey and patients' medical files. In total, 42 patients participated, 66% were men, and the average age was 41.4 years. Multivariate analysis was utilized to predict PTG from a variety of demographic variables including gender, ethnicity, relationship status, age, education, income, religiosity, and injury/disability type. Additional primary variables of study included current levels of QOL, posttraumatic stress, and resilience. Results revealed that married/partnered individuals had higher levels of PTG than divorced or single individuals. Findings suggest that social support following trauma is important for PTG and should be prioritized in recovery interventions with trauma survivors.

Keywords

posttraumatic growthquality of lifepolitically motivated acts of violenceresiliencetrauma
Type
Articles
Information
The Australian Journal of Rehabilitation Counselling , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , July 2017 , pp. 1 - 18
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ai, A.L., Cascio, T., & Santangelo, L.K., & Evans-Campbell, T. (2005). Hope, meaning, and growth following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 523–548.Google Scholar
Anderson, K.L. (1995). The effect of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on quality of life. Research in Nursing and Health, 18, 547–556.Google Scholar
Armeli, S., Gunthert, K.C., & Cohen, L.H. (2001). Stressor appraisals, coping, and post-event outcomes: The dimensionality and antecedents of stress-related growth. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 20, 366–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barskova, T., & Oesterreich, R. (2009). Posttraumatic growth in people living with a serious medical condition and its relations to physical and mental health: A systematic review. Disability and Rehabilitation, 31 (21), 1709–1733.Google Scholar
Barth, J., Kopfmann, S., Nyberg, E., Angenendt, J., & Frommberger, U. (2005). Posttraumatic stress disorders and extent of psychosocial impairments five years after a traffic accident. GMS Psycho-Social-Medicine, 2, 1–13.Google Scholar
Bonanno, G., Brewin, C.R., Kaniasty, K., & Greca, A.M.L. (2010). Weighing the costs of disaster. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 11 (1), 1–49.Google Scholar
Breslau, N., & Kessler, R.C. (2001).The stressor criterion in SM–IV posttraumatic stress disorder: An empirical investigation. Biological Psychiatry, 50, 699–704.Google Scholar
Brewin, C.R., Andrews, B., & Valentine, J.D. (2000). Meta-analysis of risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 5 (68), 748–766.Google Scholar
Burckhardt, C.S., & Anderson, K.L. (2003). The quality of life scale (QOLS): Reliability, validity and utilization. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 1, 60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burckhardt, C.S., Woods, S.L., Schultz, A.A., & Ziebarth, D.M. (1989). Quality of life of adults with chronic illness: A psychometric study. Research in Nursing Health, 12, 347–354.Google Scholar
Carr, D., & Springer, K. (2010). Advances in families and health research in the 21 century. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 744–762.Google Scholar
Carr, D., Freedman, V.A., Cornman, J.C., & Schwarz, N. (2014). Happy marriage, happy life? Marital quality and subjective well-being in later life. Journal of Marriage and Family, 76, 930–948.Google Scholar
Chou, C., Chan, F., Phillips, B., & Chan, J.Y.C. (2013). Introduction to positive psychology in rehabilitation. Rehabilitation Research, Policy, and Education, 27, 126–130.Google Scholar
Connor, K.M., & Davidson, J.R.T. (2003). Development of a new resilience scale: The connor-davidson resilience scale (CD-RISC). Depression and Anxiety, 18, 71–82.Google Scholar
D'Andrea, W., Sharma, R., Zelechoski, A.D., & Spinazzola, J. (2011). Physical health problems after single trauma exposure: When stress takes root in the body. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 17, 378–392.Google Scholar
Flett, R.A., Kazantzis, N., Long, N.R., MacDonald, C., & Millar, M. (2002). Traumatic events and physical health in a New Zealand community sample. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 15, 303–312.Google Scholar
Frain, M., Bishop, M., & Bethel, M. (2010). A roadmap for rehabilitation counseling to serve military veterans with disabilities. Journal of Rehabilitation, 76 (1), 13–21.Google Scholar
Frankl, V.E. (1963). Man's Search for Meaning. New York: Pockel Books.Google Scholar
Frazier, P., Conlon, A., & Glaser, T. (2001). Positive and negative life changes following sexual assault. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69, 1048–1055 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ganor, B. (1998, September 24). Defining Terrorism: Is One Man's Terrorist Another Man's Freedom Fighter? Herzliya, Israel: International Institute for Counter Terrorism. Retrieved from http://www.ict.org.il/ResearchPublications/tabid/64/Articlsid/432/Default.aspx.Google Scholar
Garmezy, N. (1991). Resiliency and vulnerability to adverse developmental outcomes associated with poverty. American Behavioral Scientist, 34, 416–430.Google Scholar
Han, K.T., Park, E.C., Kim, J.H., Kim, S.J., & Park, S. (2014). Is marital status associated with quality of life? Health and Quality Life Outcomes 12, 109–114.Google Scholar
Helgeson, V.S., Reynolds, K.A., & Tomich, P.L. (2006). A meta-analytic review of benefit-finding and growth. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 797–816.Google Scholar
Hobfoll, S.E., Hall, B.J., Canetti-Nisim, D., Galea, S., Johnson, R.J., & Palmieri, P.A. (2007). Refining our understanding of traumatic growth in the face of terrorism: Moving from meaning cognitions to doing what is meaningful. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 56, 345–366 Google Scholar
Holland, K.D., & Holahan, C.K. (2003). The relation of social support and coping to positive adaptation to breast cancer. Psychology and Health, 18, 15–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holman, E.A., Silver, R.C., Poulin, M., Andersen, J., Gil-Rivas, V., & McIntosh, D.N. (2008). Terrorism, acute stress, and cardiovascular health: A 3-year national study following the September 11th attacks. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65, 73–80.Google Scholar
Huppert, F.A., & So, T. (2013). Flourishing across Europe: Application of a new conceptual framework for defining well-being. Social Indicators Research, 110 (3), 837–861.Google Scholar
Israel-Cohen, Y., Uzefovsky, F., Kashy-Rosenbaum, G., & Kaplan, O. (2015). Gratitude and PTSD symptoms among israeli youth exposed to missile attacks: Examining the mediation of positive and negative affect and life satisfaction. Journal of Positive Psychology, 10 (2), 99–106.Google Scholar
Joseph, S. (2011). Religiosity and posttraumatic growth: A note concerning the problems of confounding in their measurement and the inclusion of religiosity within the definition of posttraumatic growth. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 14, 843–845.Google Scholar
Joseph, S., & Linley, P.A. (2006). Growth following adversity: Theoretical perspectives and implications for clinical practice. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 1041–1053.Google Scholar
Joseph, S., Linley, P.A., & Harris, G.J. (2005). Understanding positive change following trauma and adversity: Structural clarification. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 10, 83–96.Google Scholar
Kessler, R.C., Anthony, J.C., Blazer, D.G., Bromet, E., Eaton, W.W., Kendler, K., & Zhao, S. (1997). The US national comorbidity survey: Overview and future directions. Epidemiologia e Psichiatria Sociale, 6, 4–16.Google Scholar
Konvisser, Z.D. (2013). Themes of resilience and growth in survivors of politically motivated violence. Traumatology, 19 (4), 292–302.Google Scholar
Koren, D., Arnon, I., & Klein, E. (2001). Long term course of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder in traffic accident victims: A three-year prospective follow-up study. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39, 1449–1458.Google Scholar
Leung, Y.W., Alter, D.A., Prior, P.L., Stewart, D.E., Irvine, J., & Grace, S.L. (2012). Posttraumatic growth in coronary artery disease outpatients: Relationship to degree of Trauma and health service use. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 72 (4), 293–299. Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.12.011.Google Scholar
Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K.M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9,111–131.Google Scholar
Maddi, S.R. (2005). On hardiness and other pathways to resilience. American Psychologist, 60, 261–262.Google Scholar
Mahdi, H., Kususanto, P., & Sahabuddin, H. (2014). Posttraumatic growth and resilience after a prolonged war: A study in Baghdad, Iraq. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education, 3 (3), 197–204.Google Scholar
Manne, S., Ostroff, J., Winkel, G., Goldstein, L., Fox, K., & Grana, G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth after breast cancer: Patient, partner, and couple perspectives. Psychosomatic Medicine, 66, 442–454.Google Scholar
Martz, E. (2010). Introduction to trauma rehabilitation after war and conflict. In Martz, E. (ed.), Trauma Rehabilitation After War and Conflict, Community and Individual Perspectives (pp. 1–26). New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Maslow, A.H. (1954). Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper.Google Scholar
McDonald, L. (2010). Psychosocial rehabilitation of civilians in conflict-affected settings. In Martz, E. (ed.), Trauma Rehabilitation After War and Conflict, Community and Individual Perspectives (pp. 215–246). New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Murphy, P., & Hevey, D. (2013). The relationship between internalized HIV-related stigma and posttraumatic growth. AIDS Behavior, 17 (5), 1809–1818.Google Scholar
National Security Studies Center. (2007). National Terrorism Database. Tel Aviv, Israel.Google Scholar
Neumann, L., & Buskila, D. (1997). Measuring the quality of life of women with fibromyalgia: A Hebrew version of the quality of life scale (QOLS). Journal of Musculoskeletal Pain, 5, 5–17.Google Scholar
Nygren, B., Jonsen, A., Gustafson, Y., Norberg, A., & Lundman, B. (2005). Resilience, sense of coherence, purpose in life and self-transcendence in relation to perceived physical and mental health among the oldest old. Aging and Mental Health, 9 (4), 354–362.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Osei-Bonsu, P.E., Weaver, T., Eisen, S., & Vander Wall, J. (2012). Posttraumatic growth inventory: Factor structure in the context of DSM-IV traumatic events. ISRN Psychiatry, 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pargament, K.I., Smith, B.W., Koenig, H.G., & Perez, L. (1998). Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37, 710– 724 Google Scholar
Park, C.L. (1998). Stress-related growth and thriving through coping: The roles of personality and cognitive processes. Journal of Social Issues, 54 (2), 267–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peterson, C., Park, N., Pole, N., D'Andrea, W., & Seligman, M.E. (2008). Strengths of character and posttraumatic growth. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 21, 214–217.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poulin, M.J., Silver, R.C., Gil-Rivas, V., Holman, E.A., & McIntosh, D.N. (2009). Finding social benefits after a collective trauma: Perceiving societal changes and well-being following 9/11. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22, 81–90 Google Scholar
Prati, G., & Pietrantoni, L. (2009). Optimism, social support, and coping strategies as factors contributing to posttraumatic growth: A meta-analysis. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 14 (5), 364–388.Google Scholar
Sarason, B.R., Sarason, I.G., & Gurung, R.A.R. (2001). Close personal relationships and health outcomes: A key to the role of social support. In Sarason, B.R. & Duck, S. (eds.), Personal Relationships: Implications for Clinical and Community Psychology (pp. 15–41). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Schnurr, P.P., Lunney, C.A., Bovin, M., & Marx, B. (2009). Posttraumatic stress disorder and quality of life: Extension of findings to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clinical Psychology Review, 29, 727–735.Google Scholar
Schwartz, I., Tsenter, J., Shochina, M., Shiri, S., Kedary, M., Katz-Leurer, M., & Meiner, Z. (2007). Rehabilitation outcomes of terror victims with multiple traumas. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 88 (4), 440–448.Google Scholar
Schwartz, I., Tuchner, M., Tsenter, J., Shochina, M., Shoshan, Y., Katz-Leurer, M., & Meiner, Z. (2008). Cognitive and functional outcomes of terror victims who suffered from traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury, 22 (3), 255–263.Google Scholar
Seligman, M., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55 (1), 5–14.Google Scholar
Shamia, N., Thabet, A., & Vostanis, P. (2015). Exposure to war traumatic experiences, posttraumatic stress disorder and posttraumatic growth among nurses in Gaza. Journal of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, 22 (10), 749–755.Google Scholar
Shiri, S., Wexler, I.D., Alkalay, Y., Meiner, Z., & Kreitler, S. (2008a). Positive psychological impact of treating victims of politically motivated violence among hospital-based health care providers. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 77 (5), 315–318.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shiri, S., Wexler, I.D., Alkalay, Y., Meiner, Z., & Kreitler, S. (2008b). Positive and negative psychological impact after secondary exposure to politically motivated violence among body handlers and rehabilitation workers. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 196 (12), 906–911.Google Scholar
Singh, K., & Xiaonan, Y. (2010). Psychometric evaluation of the connor-davidson resiliencescale (CD-RISC) in a sample of Indian students. Journal of Psychology, 1 (1), 23–30.Google Scholar
Steuwe, C., Lanius, R. A., & Frewen, P. A. (2012). The role of dissociation in civilian posttraumatic stress disorder: Evidence for a dissociative subtype by latent class and confirmatory factor analysis. Depression and Anxiety, 29, 689–700.Google Scholar
Tansey, T., Kaya, C., Moser, E., Eagle, D., Dutta, A., & Chan, F. (2016). Psychometric validation of the brief resilience scale in a sample of vocational rehabilitation consumers. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 59, 108–111.Google Scholar
Tedeschi, R.G., & Calhoun, L.G. (1996). The posttraumatic growth inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9 (3), 455–471.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tedeschi, R.G., & Calhoun, L.G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15 (1), 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment (WHOQOL). (1995). Position paper from the world health organization. Social Science Medicine, 41, 1403–1409.Google Scholar
Tsuang, M., (2000). Schizophrenia: Genes and the environment. Biological Psychiatry, 47, 210–220.Google Scholar
Ullman, S.E., & Siegel, J.M. (1996). Traumatic events and physical health in a community sample. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9, 703–720.Google Scholar
Waysman, M., Shwarzwald, J., & Solomon, Z. (2001). Hardiness: An examination of its relationship with positive and negative long term changes following trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 14, 531–538.Google Scholar
Weiss, D.S. (1997). The impact of event scale–revised. In Wilson, J.P., & Keane, T.M. (eds.), Assessing Psychological Trauma and PTSD (2nd ed.) (168–189). New York City: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Westphal, M., & Bonanno, G.A. (2007). Posttraumatic growth and resilience to trauma: Different sides of the same coin or different coins? Applied Psychology: An International Review, 56, 417–427.Google Scholar
World Health Organization. (2004). CBR. A strategy for rehabilitation, equalization of opportunities, poverty reduction and social inclusion of people with disabilities. Joint Position Paper 2004. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. Retrieved from: http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2004/9241592389_eng.pdf.Google Scholar
Yalom, I. (1980). Existential Therapy. New York: Basic Books Google Scholar
Zoellner, T., & Maercker, A. (2006). Posttraumatic growth in clinical psychology-A critical review and introduction of a two component model. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 626–653.Google Scholar