Posttraumatic Growth Reported by Emerging Adults: a Multigroup Analysis of the Roles of Attachment, Support, and Coping

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine reports of and pathways to posttraumatic growth (PTG) by emerging adults who have experienced trauma during adolescence compared with a comparison group recruited from the same sample frame. The sample consisted of 546 college students; 359 reported having experienced a traumatic event during adolescence, and 187 college students reporting no such trauma made up the comparison group. Independent t-tests revealed that the comparison group reported more growth in the domain of new possibilities; whereas, the trauma group reported more growth in the domains of spiritual change and appreciation for life. Structural equation modelling revealed no differences in factor loadings or path regression weights between the groups, suggesting that there was consistency in the influence that attachment, social support, and coping had on reports of PTG. However, constraining the intercepts did result in a poorer model fit; specifically, scores of growth in new possibilities and engagement in intrapersonal coping strategies (active, positive reframing, planning) were higher for the comparison group. Because these coping strategies also had the strongest path coefficient to PTG across groups, engagement in intrapersonal coping strategies appears to be a pathway to realizing growth, which is more likely to be experienced by college students but less likely to be achieved by emerging adults of adolescent trauma.