• Yi-Jen Su, Chia-Chi Chow, Cheng-I Yen, and Shiow-Shuh Chuang.
• Graduate Institute of Behavioral Sciences.
• Psychol Trauma. 2020 Jan 1; 12 (1): 11-19.

ObjectivePosttraumatic growth (PTG) is commonly observed in trauma survivors. Information on PTG and its predictors among burn survivors is relatively limited. The present study sought to investigate the prevalence and predictors of PTG in burn survivors. The predictors of interest included the variables from Tedeschi and Calhoun's model of PTG (core belief challenge, deliberate rumination, trauma disclosure, and perceived social support) and positive personality attributes (resilience, grateful disposition, and dispositional forgiveness).MethodParticipants were 116 burn survivors of the 2015 Formosa Fun Coast Water Park explosion in Taiwan. The mean age at the event was 22.3 years (SD = 4.2), with the average total body surface area (TBSA) burned of 49.5% (SD = 19.6).ResultsTwo years after the explosion, 51.7% of the burn survivors experienced "significant" PTG (i.e., at least moderate growth). This proportion rose to 80.2% and 88.8% when assessing PTG at the domain and item levels, respectively. The variables from Tedeschi and Calhoun's model and positive personality attributes both significantly and substantially predicted PTG postburn, after adjusting for demographic and burn characteristics. Moderation analyses revealed that the effect of deliberate rumination on PTG postburn was stronger among those with low and moderate levels of resilience. The effect of trauma disclosure on PTG postburn was stronger among those with low and moderate dispositional forgiveness.ConclusionThese findings highlight the applicability of psychological theories of PTG to trauma-related growth of burn survivors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

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