Posttraumatic growth in mothers and fathers of children with severe illnesses

Abstract

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.

Posttraumatic Growth in Parents and Pediatric Patients

“…We identified 17 studies examining PTG in parents of children with pediatric disease 5,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] (see Table 1), 7 studies that demonstrated PTG or benefit finding in children with pediatric disease [42][43][44][45][46][47][48] (see Table 2), and 2 that included both parents and pediatric patients. 49,50 We summarize the findings from these studies in the nine components of our conceptual model of SPI-PTG: (1) the nature and subjective experience of the traumatic event, (2) trauma and the disruption of a personal worldview, (3) PTG as rebuilding or reshaping this worldview, (4) elements of SPI-PTG, (5) cognitive processing underlying SPI-PTG, (6) affective processing underlying SPI-PTG, (7) posttraumatic afterevents, (8) individual characteristics affecting SPI-PTG, and (9) social support affecting SPI-PTG (see Fig.…”

“…77 Cross-sectional studies suggest that PTSS, which includes intrusive thoughts, avoidance, and hyperarousal, is associated with PTG, and that a certain level of posttraumatic stress (that is, not too much and not too little) likely correlates with PTG. 28,40,49 These studies do not clarify whether posttraumatic stress precedes PTG or is a by-product of the process; PTG can also occur in the absence of posttraumatic stress. [20][21][22] The relation of depression and anxiety to PTG is less clear.…”

“…38,[52][53][54] Correspondingly, in pediatric studies the objective severity level of medical illness or risks of treatment are generally not associated with the degree of posttraumatic stress or PTG in parents or patients (although two studies have shown that PTG varies with type of diagnosis). 1,10,40,[47][48][49][50] Trauma and the disruption of a personal worldview Every individual has his or her own personal understanding of and perspective on the world and interprets life events within the context of this perspective, termed the ''assumptive world.'' This assumptive world consists of a set of cognitive constructs known as ''schemas,'' the basic units of one's understanding of oneself and the world.…”

“…Several studies have demonstrated a strong correlation between social support and PTG. 40,53,78 Social support involves both the contribution of an individual's support network to the individual's PTG and the individual's influence upon that network. The patient's behavioral response itself can serve as a stressor for other family members and may result in family members exhibiting a greater degree of both PTSS and PTG.…”

Posttraumatic growth in bereaved parents: A multidimensional model of associated factors.

“…A growing body of recent work has suggested that close relationships can support PTG. Relationship quality, self-disclosure, and support seeking were found to be associated with greater PTG (e.g., Hungerbuehler, Vollrath, & Landolt, 2011;Lindstrom, Cann, Calhoun, & Tedeschi, 2013;Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009). Studies have also shown that partner support can serve as a basis for PTG and PTG-related concepts (e.g., meaning finding) in several loss contexts (Canevello, Michels, & Hilaire, 2016), including parental bereavement POSTTRAUMATIC GROWTH IN BEREAVED PARENTS 7 (Albuquerque, Pereira, & Narciso, 2016;Polatinsky & Esprey, 2000).…”