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Posttraumatic growth after childbirth: a prospective study

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 12:13 authored by Alexandra Sawyer, Susan Ayers, Debra Young, Robert Bradley, Helen Smith
A growing body of research has examined the potential for positive change following challenging and traumatic events, this is known as posttraumatic growth (PTG). Childbirth is a valuable opportunity to extend previous work on PTG as it allows the role of different variables to be considered prospectively. The aim of this study was to prospectively examine correlates of PTG after birth, including sociodemographic and obstetric variables, social support and psychological distress, using a prospective, longitudinal design. A total of 125 women completed questionnaires during their third trimester of pregnancy and 8 weeks after birth. At least a small degree of positive change following childbirth was reported by 47.9% of women; however, average levels of growth were lower than generally reported in other studies. A regression model of age, type of delivery, posttraumatic stress symptoms during pregnancy and general distress after birth significantly predicted 32% of the variance in growth after childbirth. The strongest predictors of growth were operative delivery (ß 0.23–0.30) and posttraumatic stress symptoms in pregnancy (ß 0.32). These findings emphasise the importance of assessing pre-event characteristics when considering the development of PTG after a challenging event

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Psychology and Health

ISSN

0887-0446

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

3

Volume

27

Page range

362-377

Department affiliated with

  • Primary Care and Public Health Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-08-09

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    University of Sussex (Publications)

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