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

“The research is inconclusive on the relationship among resilience, PTSD, and posttraumatic growth (e.g., Levine, Laufer, Stein, Hamama-Raz, & Solomon, 2009; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“25) among trauma-exposed individuals.(30) According to Tedeschi and Calhoun,(31) TABLE 2 Descriptive statistics and correlations among major variables (N = 176)”

“…the relationship between ways of coping, including cognitive redefinitions, reinterpretation of events and the acceptance of that, which cannot be changed and PTG (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Calhoun et al., 2000; Cordova et al., 2001; Koenig et al., 1998; Armeli et al., 2001; Evers et al., 2001).”

“It is known that such an active coping strategy is associated with posttraumatic growth [41].”

“…was designed to develop the core components of adaptive coping strategies, including positive cognitive reappraisal of adversities, emotional management skills, problem-focused coping strategies, and social support (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Vitaliano, Russo, Carr, Maiuro, & Becker, 1985).”

“Regarding PTG, a meta-analysis highlighted the following coping strategies as positively related to PTG: positive reappraisal, religious coping, and seeking social support (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“A literature analysis by Prati and Pietrantoni showed that post-traumatic growth is associated with strategies for coping with stress that encompass acceptance, seeking support, positive reinterpretation and growth and religious coping [40].”

“Religion Religion coping has a more significant positive impact on the elderly and women [45], and there exists a reciprocal relationship between religiosity and PTG [40], whereby stronger religious beliefs enhance a sense of control and a propensity to seek meaning [5].”

“It is this reflection and reappraisal which research suggests provides the strongest relationship with PTG, more so than personality structure, social support or coping styles (Helgeson et al., 2006; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“Acceptance was consistently linked to increased posttraumatic growth (Kirby et al., 2011; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009) and milder posttraumatic stress symptoms in EMSP (Zhao et al., 2020).”

“…strategies such as seeking social support have been well researched and have demonstrated negative relationships with negative outcomes such as job burnout (Shin et al., 2014), posttraumatic stress (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009), and even cardiovascular stress (Lee, Suchday, & Wylie-Rosett, 2012).”

“Studies conducted in recent years have examined the connection between PG and a range of variables, including sociodemographic characteristics, personal resources, and social support (e.g., Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“…sociodemographic characteristics, personal resources, social support, and motherhood achieved through overcoming difficulties 2160 Journal of Family Issues 39(7) (e.g., Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Shenkman, 2016; Taubman - Ben-Ari, 2014), meaning in life among older fathers was scarcely explored.”

“…diff .484 .161 .108 .000 R2 = .18 R2 = .20 R2adj ¼ :17 R2adj ¼ :19 F(9/798) = 19.24, p \ .001 F(11/796) = 18.54, p \ .001 of studies have found that perceived support promotes growth, these studies have focused on support from family, friends, and significant others (Prati and Pietrantoni 2009).”

“In essence, finding personal, social, cultural, and/or spiritual meanings through the experience of overcoming life challenges can help an individual counteract stress, promote health, and even facilitate personal transformation (Losavio et al., 2011; Park, 2004, 2010; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“Furthermore, there is little research on the role of contemplative practices behaviors prior in promoting positive emotions, physical and emotional health, and resilience during and following a stressful life event, and supporting subsequent posttraumatic growth (Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“It may also be that other variables, not measured in the current study such as social support or personality traits are associated with growth (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“Positive reappraisal is critical in promoting positive adaptation to trauma and PTG (Aflakseir & Manafi, 2018; Hanley et al., 2016; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“This finding aligns with existing research in the general population, as positive associations have been found between PTG and social support [75].”

“According to univariate analysis of factors affecting each area of PTG, religion affected spiritual change, and satisfaction with relationships with colleagues and supervisors affected total scores, relating to others, and new possibilities.”

“…2152 exploring the impact mechanism of PTG following traumatic events (Kilmer et al., 2009; Kilmer and Gil-Rivas, 2010; Meyerson et al., 2011), in which the impact of personality and positive coping on PTG have been highlighted (Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009; Moore et al., 2015; Zerach, 2015).”

“For example, Preti showed that religious coping is an effective strategy for post-traumatic growth (31).”

“Previous research found coping styles conducive to growth elements, including positive reframing and active coping [36,38,84,85] and positive relationships between constructive coping and self-esteem [86–88].”

“In addition, support was found for similar determinants of growth in adults and children, including stress reactions, event related and demographic characteristics, and social processes [4,5,6].”

“intense in the last years (Bostock et al. 2009; Prati and Pietrantoni 2009), little is known about VPTG and the way witnessing others’ suffering can lead to personal growth.”

“…also integrate positive outcomes such as life satisfaction, post traumatic growth, and feelings of empowerment, for which positive reactions to disclosure may have a more notable effect (Beeble, Bybee, Sullivan, & Adams, 2009; Perez, Johnson, & Wright, 2012; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Song, 2012).”

“, positive affect, positive coping, and optimism [96]); such potential mediators need to be explored in future work.”

“…& Andrykowski, 2001), previous traumatic events (Adams & Boscarino, 2006; Bonanno, Galea, Bucciarelli, & Vlahov, 2007), and lack of a religious affiliation (Kroo & Nagy, 2011; Pargament, Koening, & Perez, 2000; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009) are common risk factors for PTSD and are related to less PTG.”

“Clearly, having access to emotional support was instrumental in facilitating better mental health and stress-related growth among LGBQ young adults, as found in prior studies (Armeli, Gunthert, & Cohen, 2001; Laufer & Solomon, 2006; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Siegel, Schrimshaw, & Pretter, 2005).”

“Social support is considered to be one of the main factors contributing to positive adjustment following a traumatic event (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“Social support is described as a protective factor that alleviates the effects of a stressful situation on individuals (Dumont & Provost, 1999) through its ability to reduce loneliness (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“(2021), positive psychology factors proved to have a leading role in personal strengthening through adversity, namely intrapersonal variables such as optimism (Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“In addition, a number of studies exist in the literature that describe the effect of social support on post-traumatic growth (Bozo, Gündoğdu, & BüyükasikColak, 2009; Lelorain, Tessier, Florin, & Bonnaud-Antignac, 2011; Schmidt, Blank, Bellizzi, & Park, 2012; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“This finding is consistent with substantial evidence showing that seeking social support is an effective way of coping with negative or stressful events by enhancing one’s resources and decreasing feelings of isolation and loneliness (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Taylor et al., 2004).”

“A wide range of benefits have been ascribed to maintaining a positive mental attitude when faced with adversity, including disasters (Ahmad et al., 2010; Carbone and Echols, 2017; Gargano et al., 2019; Nes and Segerstrom, 2006; Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009; Sumer et al., 2005).”

“Recent evidence reveals a strong association between optimism and positive physical (Carver et al., 2010; Kim et al., 2017; Kress & Aue, 2017; Rasmussen et al., 2009; Rozanski et al., 2019; Scheier & Carver, 2018) and mental health outcomes (Gallagher et al., 2020; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“Furthermore, when constructively provided, social support may encourage successful adaptation by helping victims to re-appraise the traumatic event and thus, engage in more effective coping strategies (Schaefer and Moos, 1998; Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“…incidents on different individuals include proximity to the event, personal history, education levels, age and gender, optimism, a history of psychiatric difficulties, and available support networks (Brewin, Andrews, & Valentine, 2000; Ozer, Best, Lipsey & Weiss, 2003, Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“Religious coping has been shown to be the strongest predictor of positive psychological change after traumatic events (Prati and Piantroni, 2009), while negative religious coping (Pargament et al.”

“Previous research has proven that positive reappraisal is strongly associated with positive outcomes after traumatic experiences (Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009; Rood et al., 2012).”

“…protective factor in adjustment to stressors and trauma that may have direct and buffering effects on wellbeing (Cohen & Wills, 1985; for meta-analyses on posttraumatic stress and growth, see Ozer et al., 2008; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009), but empirical evidence for bereavement is inconclusive.”

“Recent meta-analyses and reviews have illustrated the importance of coping strategies in fostering the perception of growth (Helgeson, Reynolds, & Tomich, 2006; Linley & Joseph, 2004; Prati & Peitrantoni, 2009).”

“…has found moderate relationships between posttraumatic growth and both social support and seeking social support coping (see the meta-analysis by Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009), which supports the interpersonal aspects of meaning making that may occur in conjunction with intrapersonal…”

“In their meta-analysis study, Prati and Pietrantoni (2009) figured out that social support and seeking social support coping were moderately related with PTG among postoperative breast cancer.”

“A meta-analysis of 103 studies identified the presence of coping strategies, cognitive reappraisal, religion, optimism, and social support as significant predictors for stress-related growth (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“A strong social sup - port network or finding meaning in one’s experiences, for example, are some of the known factors that can lower or even reverse the effects of trauma into what is sometimes referred to as posttraumatic growth [57, 59].”

“…2014; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996), resilience (Arabaci, Dikec, Buyukbayram, Uzunoglu, & Ozan, 2018; Kaye-Tzadok & Davidson-Arad, 2016), and optimism (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Schaefer, Howell, Schwartz, Bottomley, & Crossnine, 2018) as well as characteristics of traumas such as severity (McMillen…”

“, optimism, social support, spirituality) in many studies [18], including in AYAs [19], and may be interpreted as providing support for validity.”

“Consistent to a previous review (Prati and Pietrantoni, 2009), our findings indicated that optimism was associated with PTG.”

“Consistent with this idea, previous research indicated that problem-focused coping and positive cognitions about trauma strongly predict posttraumatic growth (Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009).”

“A meta-analysis examining coping strategies and PTG found that positive reappraisal coping had the largest impact on increasing PTG, with social support coping moderately related to PTG and acceptance coping yielding the smallest, yet still significant, impact on PTG (Prati and Pietrantoni, 2008).”

“Prati and Pietrantoni (2009), in a meta-analysis comprising 103 studies, found social support to be a moderate predictor of PTG in adults in that it helped effective coping strategies, thus promoting posttraumatic growth.”

“, extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, world view) [18, 19], hope [20], distress tolerance [21], optimism [22], interpersonal supports [23], and positive life activities (e.”

“Similarly, the present results supported the beneficial effects of dispositional optimism, hope, and benefit finding for PTG, consistent with a previous systematic review and a meta-analysis which found evidence of a direct linear relationship between dispositional optimism and PTG in the context of health traumas in…”