Abstract

There is a gap in the literature that examines posttraumatic growth outcomes in clinical psychologists. Additionally, few studies have explored personality characteristics that can mitigate negative psychological outcomes and foster growth. This study examined if the same model of Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) would be found in clinical psychologists who work with trauma as those who have experienced a traumatic event. Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) indicated moderate model fit. Additionally, the study assessed whether the relationship between cumulative Vicarious Trauma Exposure (VTE) and Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS), and cumulative VTE and PTG would depend on the moderator hardiness, but no significant interactions were found. Yet, a post-hoc analysis indicated an interaction between weekly VTE and hardiness on PTG such that those who reported higher weekly VTE and hardiness scores tended to report higher growth scores, whereas those who reported lower weekly VTE and hardiness did not tend to differ. Implications for training programs are suggested. Limitations of sample distribution, sample characteristics, and measures are addressed. Future research should include larger sample sizes and additional measures to assess for convergent and construct validity.

Advisor

Sarah Sifers

Committee Member

Lisa Perez

Committee Member

Kenneth Zimny

Date of Degree

2015

Language

english

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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In Copyright