Traumatic adjustment and meaning-making processes

Several factors are hypothesized to be related to an individual's ability to find benefit or growth following traumatic events. These post-trauma factors include intrapersonal traits, interpersonal variables, and situational factors. Constructive rumination or reflection is hypothesized to be the key cognitive process in posttraumatic growth or meaning-making. Positive affect, optimism, spirituality, and goal-directed behavior are also believed to contribute to posttraumatic meaning- making. The current study examined the relationship between self-efficacy, cognitive processes, and emotional reactions to trauma and loss in trauma recovery and posttraumatic growth. Specifically, this study examined the relationships between disaster-related trauma impact, avoidance coping, and self-efficacy on posttraumatic growth in adult residents of the state of Mississippi who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. It was hypothesized that individuals who experienced Hurricane Katrina engaged in cognitive processing to cope with the experience. It was further hypothesized that an individual's level of self-efficacy had a significant influence on the impact of trauma and subsequent posttraumatic growth. The study was a secondary data analysis that examined participants' cognitive experiences, emotional distress levels, self-efficacy, and posttraumatic psychological adjustment reported in response to structured interviews that had been administered for the Hurricane Katrina Community Advisory Group (HKCAG) research project conducted by a collaborative group of researchers under the leadership of Ronald Kessler, PhD, at Harvard University. The Hurricane Katrina Community Advisory Group was supported by NIH Research Grant R01MH70884-01A2S1 funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The HKCAG dataset subscale scores were computed for MS residents, and examined to see if hypothesized relationships between self-efficacy, post-trauma emotionality or distress, rumination, and posttraumatic growth related to Hurricane Katrina could be identified. Results provided mixed support for the hypotheses. Trauma impact and posttraumatic growth had a significant relationship. The proposed curvilinear relationship between trauma impact and posttraumatic growth was not found. Avoidance coping had a negative relationship with both trauma impact and posttraumatic growth. No significant relationship was identified for self- efficacy and trauma impact or avoidance coping. The hypothesis that self-efficacy operates as a moderating variable in the relationship between trauma impact and PTG was not supported. Positive relationships were identified between trauma impact and posttraumatic growth, as well as between self-efficacy and posttraumatic growth.