Posttraumatic stress symptoms and posttraumatic growth in Chinese adolescents after tornado: Cross-lagged panel network analysis

Abstract

Background: Existing literature has yielded mixed results regarding the relationships between posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and posttraumatic growth (PTG). The recent network analysis provided opportunities to investigate the associations between PTSS and PTG on a more fine-grained level. Previous cross-sectional network analyses were unable to address the directionality of the temporal relationships between components of PTSS and PTG. Therefore, the current study aimed to model cross-lagged network of components of PTSS and PTG with longitudinal data to unveil the direction of their relationships.

Method: A sample of 202 adolescents (M_age = 14.36, 38% boys) who survived the Yancheng tornado were assessed with the Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS) and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) at 9, 12, and 18 months following the tornado. Two cross-lagged panel networks were examined to model the temporal associations between components of PTSS and PTG.

Results: The T1-T2 Network was much denser than the T2-T3 Network. The majority of cross-cluster edges were directed from PTSS to PTG. Interestingly, two major components of PTSS, Avoidance and Intrusion shared vastly different relationships with PTG. While Intrusion positively predicted components of PTG, Avoidance exhibited negative predictive value on PTG.

Conclusions: The study highlighted the differential relationships that Intrusion and Avoidance shared with the PTG components, suggesting that interventions could benefit from mitigating avoidance and incorporating intrusion into positive change. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).