In this discussion, we will address the possibilities of posttraumatic growth. As you know, most of the attention of researchers, health care providers, and parents is focused on the long term negative impacts of trauma and how to help the child resolve them. However, there is growing research interest in the long term growth that can derive from trauma – often alongside the negative impacts.
Child trauma researcher, Eva Alisic and her team have asked those of us in the trauma field to “look beyond posttraumatic stress disorder” in children, to consider also the posttraumatic growth (PTG) and the child’s quality of life after trauma (Alisic, van der Schoot, van Ginkel, & Kleber, 2008). Sadly, there is still little research to date that documents PTG in children.
Before posting to the discussion, please read the short discussion sections in the two studies below that asks children about their growth – one after a natural disaster and the other after a car accident:
Cryder, C. H., Kilmer, R. P., Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2006). An exploratory study of posttraumatic growth in children following a natural disaster. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 65–69.
Salter, E., & Stallard, P. (2004). Posttraumatic growth in child survivors of a road traffic accident. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17, 335–340.
Then, read the article that considers posttraumatic growth – as well as the harm – that can influence our interventions with children:
Kilmer, R. P., Gil-Rivas, V., Griese, B., Hardy, S. J., Hafstad, G. S., & Alisic, E. (2014). Posttraumatic growth in children and youth: clinical implications of emerging research literature. The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 84(5), 506–518.
After you have completed the readings, please post your responses to the following x questions:
What were the strongest areas of growth that children reported? Which areas were surprising to you?
What additional questions might you have liked to ask the children in these studies? Explain your answer, please.
How do you think taking PTG into account can change a counselor’s interventions with a child and family?
How and when would you imagine raising the issue of PTG with a child and family to be respectful of their experience of crisis?
Reference
Alisic, E., van der Schoot, T. A. W., van Ginkel, J. R., & Kleber, R. J. (2008).Looking beyond posttraumatic stress disorder in children: Posttraumatic stress reactions, posttraumatic growth, and quality of life in a general population sample. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 29, 1455–1461
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