Individual and community experiences of posttraumatic growth after disaster: 10 years after the Australian Black Saturday bushfires.
Psychol Trauma
; 16(2): 303-311, 2024 Feb.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37199982
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To understand longer-term posttraumatic growth (PTG) and how this is associated with individual and community bushfire experiences.METHOD:
Survey data (n = 391) from the Beyond Bushfires and the 10-year Beyond Bushfires studies were analyzed. Multilevel modeling examined relationships between basic individual demographics, bushfire exposure, and community-level variables at 3-4 years after the fires, and PTG at 10 years using the short form of the PTG Inventory.RESULTS:
Ten years after these Australian bushfires, being female, experiencing higher degrees of property loss, and stronger individual sense of community were the factors associated with PTG. Approximately 12% of the variance observed in PTG scores was attributable to differences in PTG across communities. Individuals from medium and high bushfire-affected communities reported significantly higher PTG relative to those in low bushfire-affected communities. While there was evidence of community differences in PTG, and individuals' own sense of community was positively and significantly associated with increased PTG, community-level cohesion scores were not found to be significantly related to PTG (although the trend was in the expected direction).CONCLUSIONS:
PTG is evident in longer-term disaster recovery. While PTG appears to vary across communities, the findings suggest that it is an individual's own sense of community (rather than community-level cohesion) that is most closely related to this longer-term growth following a bushfire event. While PTG is currently understood as an outcome of individual-level perceptions, community-level experiences shape the potential for positive transformations to occur after disasters and warrant further investigation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Trastornos por Estrés Postraumático
/
Desastres
/
Incendios
/
Crecimiento Psicológico Postraumático
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Región como asunto:
Oceania
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Psychol Trauma
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article