The Determinants of posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress among motor vehicle accident survivors: personality, coping mechanisms, and ruminations

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2016
Çağlayan, Pınar
The experience of traffic accidents is a quite frequent adversity, especially in Turkey. Although traumatic events result in negative psychological consequences, their positive outcomes have also been examined in psychology literature. The current study aimed to examine negative and positive consequences, namely posttraumatic stress (PTS) and growth (PTG) of traffic accident survivors in Turkey. Factors related to PTS and PTG were examined based on the Multivariate Risk Factor Model and Model of Life Crises and Personal Growth, respectively. These factors were personality characteristics, event related variables (timing and severity of the accident), and post trauma variables (coping and ruminations). Furthermore, the relationship between PTG and the change in the positive driver behaviors among driver survivors was examined based on the combination of the Conservation of Resources Theory and Model of Life Crises and Personal Growth. The sample consisted of 225 adult traffic accident survivors (105 males, 120 females). The findings showed that in the last step of the regression analysis, perceived severity of the accident, helplessness and fatalistic coping, and intrusive rumination were associated with PTS. Furthermore, perceived severity of the accident, problem solving coping, and deliberate rumination were related to PTG. The subscales of PTS and PTG were related to different variables. Mediation analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between predictive variables, and PTS and PTG. The results were discussed in relation to the hypotheses of the current study and literature findings, strengths and clinical implications, and limitations and directions for future studies were presented.

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Citation Formats
P. Çağlayan, “The Determinants of posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress among motor vehicle accident survivors: personality, coping mechanisms, and ruminations,” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2016.