What doesnt kill me [untitled]: predictors of posttraumatic growth among traumatic brain injury survivors of motor vehicle accidents

Decades of research and empirical studies support the belief that traumatic life events lead to a multitude of negative outcomes (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996), however, new research suggests that some survivors of trauma experience significant psychological growth, known as posttraumatic growth (PTG) (Tedeschi, Park, & Calhoun, 1998). The current study focused on the trauma of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and its relation to the development of PTG. A TBI is both a psychological trauma and a type of acquired brain injury that occurs when physical injury causes damage to the brain (National Institutes of Health [NIH], 2013). Empirical studies examining TBIs and PTG are minimal. The current study focused on survivors who have sustained a TBI from a motor vehicle accident to help control for contextual factors of the injury that are known to affect outcomes. The aim of this study was to elucidate the physical, sociodemographic, contextual, and psychological factors that helped predict the development of PTG among a population of TBI survivors. In addition, another aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the relationship between PTG and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology. Cross-sectional data from self-identified TBI survivors of motor vehicle accidents (n = 155) were used to construct a model of prediction of PTG. Preliminary analyses revealed a reliability issue with the measure that assessed participants’ personality, and these variables were not used in planned analyses. Results revealed that the majority of participants were female, Caucasian, highly educated, and unemployed. Overall, the sample indicated significant injury severity, disability, and lower than average mental and physical functioning. The final model accounted for approximately 15% of the variance in PTG and significant predictors included: gender, time since injury, and the interaction between PTSD symptoms and time since injury. The findings of this research can help inform treatment programs and rehabilitation services as well as funding that can aim to improve outcomes from survivors of TBI. Study limitations included the use of cross-sectional data, a homogenous and unrepresentative sample of TBI survivors, recruitment concerns, and low reliability observed in one of the integral measures of the study.