Citation

Jia X, Liu X, Ying L, Lin C. Front. Psychol. 2017; 8: e1275.

Affiliation

Institute of Developmental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing, China.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Frontiers Research Foundation)

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01275

PMID

28804469

PMCID

PMC5532511

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the longitudinal relationships between social support and posttraumatic growth (PTG) among adolescent survivors of the Wenchuan earthquake. Follow-up assessments were conducted with 452 participants at 12, 18, and 24 months after the earthquake. The results showed that the level of social support at 12 and 18 months following the earthquake predicted subsequent PTG, but not vice versa. In addition, multi-group analyses of gender showed no gender differences between social support and PTG in the cross-lagged model. Thus, psychological interventions and care for survivors should focus on improving adolescent perceptions of social support when responding to stressful experiences.

Language: en

Keywords

Wenchuan earthquake; adolescent survivors; cross-lagged model; posttraumatic growth; social support