Measuring growth with the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory.(Report)

The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI; R. G. Tedeschi & L. G. Calhoun, 1996) was used to measure the growth of university students (N = 347). Results were compared with those of trauma studies and indicate that the PTGI is a general measure of growth suitable for future nontrauma studies. Results reflect a minimal relationship between growth and stress.

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Numerous studies have documented positive psychological changes that occur during the years that follow a wide variety of extremely negative life experiences (e.g., Linley & Joseph, 2004; McMillen & Fisher, 1998; Park, Cohen, & Murch, 1996; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). This focus on positive change reflects the current interest in positive psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) and wellness (Cowen, 1994). The measure of choice in many of these studies has been the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) of Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996). Although researchers have reported a variety of magnitudes and factor structures among samples of PTGI scores (see review in Weiss & Berger, 2006), they have generally failed to find the five-factor structure originally reported by Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996). Researchers have speculated that variations in PTGI factor structures reflect different types of trauma and differences among survivor demographics.

POSTTRAUMATIC GROWTH

Posttraumatic growth is defined as a group of specific positive changes across five domains involving the self, interpersonal relationships, and philosophy of life that occur in response to extremely negative experiences (e.g., military combat, life-threatening medical conditions, internment in concentration camps, and refugee status; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). Thus, posttraumatic growth implies both an outcome (growth) and a process (struggle after a traumatic event). Maslow (1968), Rogers (1961), and Ryff (1989) described growth in terms of positive changes that are generally similar to those embodied in the PTGI but do not require trauma as a catalyst. Although the PTGI was developed specifically to measure growth after trauma, its developers suggested that growth might also result from other kinds of experiences and pointed to the need for empirical studies to address this possibility (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). Tedeschi and Calhoun (2004) also implied that the PTGI might be a suitable measure of growth without regard to the nature of precipitating events:

 
  The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory ... was developed to allow 
  quantification of the experience of growth (p. 5).... It should be 
  apparent ... that personal growth probably has a common core, although 
  it occurs for different reasons. The five domains of the PTGI are 
  probably a good representation of the breadth of growth that people 
  can experience. (p. 14) 

In fact, the PTGI has already been used in at least two studies to measure growth that is not related to trauma among members of small comparison groups who have not experienced trauma (Cordova, Cunningham, Carlson, & Andrykowski, 2001; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996).