Examining Posttraumatic Growth: Longitudinal Research and the Effect of Resilience

This book consists of three chapters: A literature review, an empirical study and a reflective account of the research process. The overarching theme of the book is posttraumatic growth (PTG), which is defined as positive psychological changes that occur during the aftermath of traumatic events. The literature review examines the findings from longitudinal studies and explores associations between PTG and various demographic, personality, religious, cognitive, emotional, social and behavioural factors. The empirical study investigates the relationship between PTG and resilience in a sample of student paramedics. Student paramedics appear able to experience PTG, however further analysis suggested a relationship the between PTG and resilience is unlikely. The reflective account focuses on the research journey. Throughout this chapter, certain aspects of the investigation are reflected upon and the impact the completion of the project had on the main author is also considered.