Posttraumatic growth (PTG) can occur after various types of trauma but has not been studied prospectively in parents of children with chronic diseases. In this study, PTG was assessed in 126 parents of 67 children with type 1 diabetes or cancer three years after diagnosis. Most parents (62.7%) reported at least a moderate degree of PTG. Quality of family relationships, parental psychological distress and child medical characteristics assessed one month after diagnosis, and parents’ gender, explained 34 percent of PTG variance. The findings confirm that a severe disease of a child can lead to personal growth in the child’s parents.
Antoni M., Lehman JM, Kilbourn KM, Boyers AE, Culver JL and Alferi SM, et al. (2001) Cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention decreases the prevalence of depression and enhances benefit finding among women under treatment for early-stage breast cancer. Health Psychology20: 20-32.
2.
Barakat LP, Alderfer MA and Kazak AE ( 2006) Posttraumatic growth in adolescent survivors of cancer and their mothers and fathers. Journal of Pediatric Psychology31: 413-419.
3.
Bostock L., Sheikh AI and Barton S. ( 2009) Posttraumatic growth and optimism in health-related trauma: A systematic review. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings16: 281-296.
4.
Bozo Ö., Gündogdu E. and Büyükasik-Colak C. ( 2009) The moderating role of different sources of perceived social support on the dispositional optimism-posttraumatic growth relationship in postoperative breast cancer patients. Journal of Health Psychology14: 1009-1020.
5.
Colville G. and Cream P. ( 2009) Post-traumatic growth in parents after a child’s admission to intensive care: maybe Nietzsche was right? Intensive Care Medicine35: 919-923.
6.
Derogatis LR ( 1993) Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI): Administration, Scoring, and Procedures Manual (3rd edn). Minneapolis, MN: National Computer Services.
7.
Engelkemeyer SM and Marwit SJ ( 2008) Posttraumatic growth in bereaved parents. Journal of Traumatic Stress21: 344-346.
8.
Folkman S. ( 2008) The case for positive emotions in the stress process . Anxiety, Stress, & Coping21: 3-14.
9.
Franke GH ( 1999) BSI, Brief Symptom Inventory von L. R. Derogatis - Deutsches Manual. Göttingen: Hogrefe .
10.
Helgeson VS, Reynolds KA and Tomich PL ( 2006) A meta-analytic review of benefit finding and growth . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology74: 797-816.
11.
Ho SMY, Chan CLW and Ho RTH ( 2004) Posttraumatic growth in Chinese cancer survivors . Psycho-Oncology13: 377-389.
12.
Jaarsma TA, Pool G., Sanderman R. and Ranchor AV ( 2006) Psychomeric properties of the Dutch version of the Post traumatic Growth Inventory among cancer patients. Psycho-Oncology15: 911-920.
13.
Jim HSL and Jacobsen PB ( 2008) Posttraumatic Stress and Posttraumatic Growth in Cancer Survivorship: A Review. The Cancer Journal14: 414-419.
14.
Joseph S. and Linley PA ( 2008) Positive psychological perspectives on posttraumatic stress: An integrative psychosocial framework. In Joseph S and Linley PA (eds) Trauma, Recovery, and Growth: Positive Psychological Perspectives on Posttraumatic Stress. New Jersey: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated, 3-20.
15.
Kashdan TB and Kane JQ ( 2011) Post-traumatic distress and the presence of post-traumatic growth and meaning in life: Experiential avoidance as a moderator. Personality and Individual Differences50: 84-89.
16.
Kazak AE, Alderfer M., Rourke MT, Simms S., Streisand R. and Grossman JR ( 2004) Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in families of adolescent childhood cancer survivors . Journal of Pediatric Psychology29: 211-219.
17.
Kleim B. and Ehlers A. ( 2009) Evidence for a curvilinear relationship between posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic depression and PTG in assault survivors . Journal of Traumatic Stress22: 45-52.
18.
Knaevelsrud C., Liedl A. and Maercker A. ( 2010) Posttraumatic growth, optimism and openness as outcomes of a cognitive-behavioural intervention for posttraumatic stress reactions . Journal of Health Psychology15: 1030-1038.
19.
Landolt MA, Vollrath M., Laimbacher J., Gnehm HE and Sennhauser FH ( 2005) Prospective study of posttraumatic stress disorder in parents of children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry44: 682-689.
20.
Largo RH, Molinari L., Comenale Pinto L., Weber M. and Duc G. ( 1986) Language development of term and preterm children during the first five years of life. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology28: 333-350.
21.
Leung YW, Gravely-Witte S., Macpherson A., Irvine J., Stewart DE and Grace SL ( 2010) Posttraumatic growth among cardiac outpatients: degree comparison with other chronic illness samples and correlates. Journal of Health Psychology15: 1049-1063.
22.
Linely PA and Joseph S. ( 2004) Positive change following trauma and adversity: A review . Journal of Traumatic Stress17: 11-21.
23.
Maercker A. and Langner R. ( 2001) Persönliche Reifung [Personal Growth] durch Belastung und Traumata: Validierung zweier deutschsprachiger Fragebogenversionen . Diagnostica47: 153-162.
24.
Manne S., Ostroff J. and Winkel G. ( 2004) Posttraumatic growth after breast cancer: Patient, partner, and couple perspectives. Psychosomatic Medicine66: 442-454.
25.
Moos RH and Moos BS ( 1994) Family Environment Scale Manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologist Press.
26.
Schneewind KA, Beckmann M. and Hecht-Jackl A. ( 1985) Das familiendiagnostische Testsystem. Munich: LMU Munich, Institut für Psychologie .
27.
Schroevers MJ, Helgeson VS, Sanderman R. and Ranchor AV ( 2010) Type of social support matters for prediction of posttraumatic growth among cancer survivors. Psychooncology19: 46-53.
28.
Stanton AL, Bower JE and Low CA ( 2006) Posttraumatic growth after cancer. In: Calhoun LG and Tedeschi RG (eds) Handbook of Posttraumatic Growth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 138-175.
29.
Swickert R. and Hittner J. ( 2009) Social support coping mediates the relationship between gender and posttraumatic growth. Journal of Health Psychology14: 387-393.
30.
Tedeschi RG and Calhoun LG ( 1996) The posttraumatic growth inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress3: 455-471.
31.
Tedeschi RG and Calhoun LG ( 2004) Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry15: 1-18.
32.
Tedeschi RG and Calhoun LG ( 2006) Expert companions: Posttraumatic growth in clinical practice. In: Calhoun LG and Tedeschi RG (eds) Handbook of Posttraumatic Growth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 291-310.
33.
Tedeschi LG and Calhoun RC ( 2009) The clinical as expert companion. In: Park CL, Lechner SC, Antoni MH and Stanton AL (eds) Medical lll-ness and Positive Life Change: Can Crisis Lead to Personal Transformation . Washington, DC : American Psychological Association, 215-239.
34.
Thornton AA and Perez MA ( 2006) Posttraumatic growth in prostate cancer survivors and their partners. Psychooncology15: 285-296.
35.
Tomich PL and Helgeson VS ( 2004) Is finding something good in the bad always good? Benefit finding among women with breast cancer. Health Psychology23: 16-23.
36.
Updegraff JA and Marshall GN ( 2005) Predictors of perceived growth following direct exposure to community violence. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology24: 538-560.
37.
Weiss T. ( 2002) Posttraumatic growth in women with breast cancer and their husbands: An intersubjective validation study. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology20: 65-80.
38.
Weiss T. ( 2004) Correlates of posttraumatic growth in married breast cancer survivors. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology23: 733-746.
39.
Widows MR, Jacobsen PB, Booth-Jones M. and Fields KK ( 2005) Predictors of posttraumatic growth following bone marrow transplantation for cancer. Journal of Health Psychology24: 266-273.
40.
Zoellner T. and Maercker A. ( 2006) Posttraumatic growth in clinical psychology: A critical review and introduction of a two component model. Clinical Psychology Review26: 626-653.
41.
Zoellner T., Rabe S., Karl A. and Maercker A. ( 2008) Posttraumatic growth in accidentsurvivors: Openness and optimism as predictors of its constructive or illusory sides. Journal of Clinical Psychology64: 245-263.
