Optimism, Social Support, and Coping Strategies As Factors Contributing to Posttraumatic Growth: A Meta-Analysis

“However, other coping strategies, such as religion, emotional support and emotional expression have been described in previous studies as adaptive [103] whereas in our study they are correlated with PTSD presence.”

“A significant amount of research has found that coping strategies and PTG are related [7,20].”

“Research has generally shown that three sets of factors— characteristics of the event, personal resources, and social support—are related to PTG(Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“…like the ability to see the silver lining (positive reappraisal) and to positively rebound in hardship situations (resilience), which have been associated with psychological wellbeing together with social support (Labrague, 2020; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Schubert, Schmidt, & Rosner, 2016).”

“Rhodes (1961) proposed the 4Ps creativity model, which integrates the different aspects of creativity, including person, process, product and process.”

“, 2015), religiosity/spirituality (Kleim and Ehlers, 2009; Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009; Tsai et al., 2015), and purpose in life (Tsai et al.”

“For PTG, this relationship requires further research, as relationships between time since trauma and PTG are often inconsistent and complex (Prati et al., 2009; Tsai, Sippel, Mota, Southwick, & Pietrzak, 2016) Finally, there was limited consideration of later life psychology and PTG. Older people…”

“Literature has revealed positive associations between PTG and religiosity, as measured by the importance of religion and/or religious participation (e.g., Helgeson, Reynolds, & Tomich, 2006; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Shaw et al., 2005, for reviews).”

“Zudem sind sie zufriedener und setzen funktionale Copingstrategien beim Umgang mit Stress ein (Andersson, 1996; Scheier & Carver, 1992; Nes & Segerstrom, 2006; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“Research so far has found that religiosity is related to mental health, acceptance, hope, life sat‐ isfaction, stress‐related growth and post‐traumatic growth (Ano & Vasconcelles, 2005; Hackney & Sanders, 2003; Helgeson, Reynolds, & Tomich, 2006; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“A meta-analysis indicated that positive forms of r/s coping, those that rest on a benevolent view of God and the universe, were one of the strongest predictors of perceived stress-related growth (Prati and Pietrantoni 2009).”

“Research has indicated the importance of dispositional optimism as a key resource in times of extreme stress and trauma [87,88] including terrorism exposure [43,84,89].”

“There is now a relatively large body of work showing the role of particular coping styles on positive outcomes amongst cancer survivors [47], but lesser research exploring both positive and negative outcomes in the same individuals [9], and future research might usefully examine these, and their relationships to posit…”

“Prati & Pietrantoni (2009) demonstrated that social 186 support is a significant contributor to PTG in a meta-analysis of 103 studies.”

“Family and social relationships have also been shown to contribute to PTG following disaster (Augustine, 2014; Breckenridge & James, 2012; Cryder et al., 2006; Hafstad et al., 2010; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Schaefer & Moos, 1998; Wolfe & Ray, 2015; Yu et al., 2014).”

“These findings are consistent with metaanalytic evidence suggesting three of the strongest correlates of overall perceived PTG following trauma are positive religious coping, positive reappraisal coping, and general religiousness/ spirituality (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“These studies were confirmed in a meta-analysis that found a correlation between social support and growth (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“This is in line with meta-analytic results on the relation of spirituality and religious coping with post-traumatic growth (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“Religiosity also enhances the meaning-making process via a sense of community or community support.(14) Prayer may also function as a strategy for cognitive processing which can help the person to reconstruct meaning and accommodate new trauma-related information into the existing model of the assumptive world, thus p…”

“In a meta-analytic review of 113 studies of change following a traumatic event, Prati and Pietrantoni (2009) found that social support moderately predicted positive change in posttraumatic growth.”

“…as personality traits, and this personality dimension happened to be one of the most significant personality variables promoting PTG in several metaanalytic reviews, independently of the type of trauma and the time elapsed from a traumatic event (e.g. Park 2004; Prati and Pietrantoni 2009).”

“High levels of social support have been associated with positive outcomes after traumatic events (Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“…life events and to be positive predictors of posttraumatic growth in the general population (e.g., Cho & Park, 2013; Danhauer et al., 2013; Helgeson, Reynolds, & Tomich, 2006; Joseph, 2011; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Schuettler & Boals, 2011; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004; Wild & Paivio, 2004).”

“Previous research has consolidated the positive effect of seeking social support on improving social resources by providing sympathy and reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness and further reframing positive, new world assumptions, which lead to PTG (Cieslak et al., 2009; Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009; Roepke, 201…”

“Fairly recently, this research on PTG in adults (Helgeson, Reynolds, & Tomich, 2006; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009) has been augmented by documentations and analyses of PTG in younger age groups (e.g., Kilmer et al., 2014).”

“Given the key role that social connection and support play in the development of PTG (Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009; Rzeszutek and Gruszczyńska, 2018), it is relevant to examine the effect of participation in these activities during the earliest phases of the pandemic in the development of PTG.”

“Secondly, social support promotes subjective well-being (Benson 2012) and facilitates PTG (Prati and Pietrantoni 2009).”

“In addition, Prati and Pietrantoni (2009) suggested that the effects of social support on PTG are likely to change when comparing different types of support.”

“Across several studies, religious coping has strongly predicted posttraumatic growth with a large effect size (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“The importance of spirituality/religiousness for the development of positive changes after traumatic event is also confirmed by meta-analyses of study results (24,25).”

“The factors that may favor posttraumatic growth include optimism [21], constructive coping strategies (i.”

“A meta-analysis of studies on PTG in cancer survivors also highlighted that increasing social support has a moderate effect on enhancing PTG in cancer survivors (Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009; Shand et al., 2015).”

“Finally, in their meta-analytic review Prati and Pietrantoni [17] reported that the study design (longitudinal vs. cross-sectional) significantly moderated the effect of positive reappraisal coping on growth.”

“…also begun to explore the relationship between rumination and psychological resilience, suggesting that deliberate rumination, which involves making sense of one’s emotions and exploring the causes and consequences of negative events, may contribute to the process of psychological recovery [69].”

“(2009), who found that positive emotional coping (religious coping) is a predictor of post-traumatic growth [53], and the study by Zhang et al.”

“Prior research has focused attention on the role of personal and interpersonal factors in predicting PTG, such as coping strategies and social support (Linley & Joseph, 2004; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“For example, higher social support has been related to greater posttraumatic growth (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009), which encourages narratives relevant to positive change; however, those with CFS/ fibromyalgia might lack the necessary supports that would ordinarily favor posttraumatic growth.”

“Similarly, Prati and Pietrantoni's ( 2009 ) meta-analytic review of 103 studies found religious coping to be strongly related to posttraumatic growth.”

“…processes Social support thus remains important for buffering stress and promoting positive mental health outcomes (James, Van Kampen, Miller, & Engdahl, 2013; Lakey & Orehek, 2011; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009), but the psychosocial processes underlying support warrant more fine-grained analysis.”

“Positive reappraisal is strongly associated with posttraumatic growth in the aftermath of traumatic experience such as cancer and natural disaster (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“It is widely understood that optimistically inclined people can derive a sense of benefit from adversity, to a greater extent than pessimistic people, and that dispositional optimism is understood to be generalized and stable over time [24, 25].”

“Spirituality has been found to be a well-known correlate of PTG (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009); however, the positive and negative themes that emerged in this study may have led most participants to report a strong relationship with God, strong relationships with family, and a strong sense of “self”…”

“Coping is a behavioral and cognitive process used to tolerate, reduce, or manage the experience of a stressful event (Rajandram et al., 2011).”

“As such ongoing evaluation of the impact of lifestyle changes associated with the pandemic is needed, notably with this at-risk population [67].”

“We have some evidence, however, that the results may be generalizable, given that we were able to replicate the primary past findings for support seeking, which have been demonstrated in different populations (Littleton et al., 2007; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“Further, Prati and Pietrantoni (2009) conducted a meta-analysis of 103 studies documenting that among various factors, religious coping and spirituality were associated with posttraumatic growth.”

“These changes over-arch: positive re-evaluation of self-worth, greater appreciation of interpersonal relationships, changed life values and beliefs (see Helgeson, Reynolds, & Tomich, 2006; Joseph & Linley, 2006; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996, 2004).”

“Some authors mention also that spirituality may enhance PTG (Calhoun, Cann, McMillan, & Tedeschi, 2000; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“A meta-analysis of PTG revealed that optimism, among a range of personal traits, was associated with PTG (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“In turn, increased social support may have lead to post-traumatic growth (Prati and Pietrantoni 2009) and a subsequent decrease in alcohol consumption (e.g., Stump and Smith 2008) for a portion of the study sample.”

“26).(19) Finally, studies examining the relationship between rumination (often characterized as intrusive thoughts) and benefit finding have yielded conflicting results.”

“…whether they reflect cognitive or behavioral strategies, whether they are problem or emotion-focused, and whether they are directed toward (approach) or away from (avoidance) the demand or conflict (Clarke, 2006; Connor-Smith & Flachsbart, 2007; Duangdao & Roesch, 2008; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“Our results are consistent with other studies that have reported social support predicts greater PTG [28,29].”

“Importantly, PTG is not a monolithic construct, but it encompasses five distinct dimensions (Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009): changes in how people relate with others (relating to others: i.”

“Acceptance coping has been shown to be associated with PTG across trauma populations [79].”

“This relationship can be explained by the fact that optimism may enhance the individual capability to manage the demands of a potentially traumatic event (Benight & Bandura, 2004; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009), which suggests that optimism can be a protective factor against stress.”

“This may be due to the ability of optimists to see the glass half-full and to concentrate on the most important things in life (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009), as well as to expect that outcomes, even of stressful events, will ultimately be favourable (Scheier & Carver, 1985).”

“styles is provided and the user is given tips for improving their communication skills (Afifi et al., 2016; Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“Prati and Pietrantoni (2009) in their meta-analytic study revealed that religious coping and positive evaluation were the most effective variables in posttraumatic growth, and these findings are also similar to our results.”

“Social support showed key correlation with positive changes after the occurrence of traumatic events in this sample and other parent and caregiver groups (Cadell & Regehr, 2003; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Zhang et al., 2015).”

“Prati and Pietrantoni (2009) conducted a meta-analysis of 103 studies exploring predictor variables (optimism, social support, and coping strategies) and post-traumatic growth.”