Psychotherapy and posttraumatic growth in divorce and separation context

Authors

  • Yerko Rojas Tapia Universidad Católica del Norte.
  • Mónica Patricia Guzmán González Universidad Católica del Norte.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22199/S07187475.2016.0003.00006

Keywords:

Posttraumatic growth, Psychotherapy, Divorce, Separation

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the connection between having attended psychotherapy and posttraumatic growth in the context of divorce and separation, and to evaluate the interaction between sex and having attended or not psychotherapy about posttraumatic growth. METHOD: 649 people completed the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory and reported whether or not had attended a post-therapeutic process after the experience of divorce or separation. RESULTS: After analyzing data with Factorial ANCOVA, considering perceived level of stress and time of separation, those who attended psychotherapy reported higher levels posttraumatic growth than those who did not. However, no effect of interaction between sex and having attended psychotherapy on posttraumatic growth was detected. CONCLUSION: In the context of divorce and separation there is a connection between having attended psychotherapy and the levels of posttraumatic growth reported in both male and female population. These findings are discussed in terms of practical implications.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Amato, P. R. (2000). The consequences of divorce for adults and children. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 1269–1287. doi:10.1111/j.1741- 3737.2000.01269.x.

Amato, P. & Previti. D. (2003). People's reasons for divorcing: Gender, social class, the life course, and adjustment. Journal of Family Issues, 24. 602-626. doi: 10.1177/0192513x03254507

Anderson, W. P., & Lopez-Baez, S. I. (2011). Measuring personal growth attributed to a semester of college life using the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Counseling and Values, 56(1-2), 73–82. doi:10.1002/j.2161-007x.2011.tb01032.x

Anderson, K., Renner, L. & Danis, F. (2012). Recovery: Resilience and growth in the aftermath of domestic violence. Violence Against Women, 18, 1279–1299. doi:10.1177/ 1077801212470543.

Antoni, M., Lehman, J., Kilbourn, K., Boyers, A., Culver, J. & Alferi, S. (2001). Cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention decreases the prevalence of depression and enhances benefit finding among women under treatment for early stage breast cancer. Health Psychology, 20(1), 20-32. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.20.1.20

Bustos, A. (2011). Cuando se acaba el amor: Estrategias de afrontamiento, duelo por pérdidas amorosas y crecimiento postraumático en estudiantes universitarios. Tesis de grado presentada como requisito para la obtención del título de psicólogo clínico.

Buck, E. (2006). Attributions, coping strategies, and posttraumatic growth following romantic relationship termination. Unpublished manuscript, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX.

Cain, D. & Seeman, J. (2008). Humanistic Psychotherapies: Handbook of Research and Practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Casado, F. (2002). Modelo de afrontamiento de Lazarus como heurístico de las intervenciones psicoterapéuticas. Apuntes de Psicología, 20, 403-414.

Cobb, A. R., Tedeschi, R. G., Calhoun, L. G. & Cann, A. (2006). Correlates of posttraumatic growth in survivors of intimate partner violence. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19(6), 895–903. doi:10.1002/jts.20171

Feixas, G. & Miró, M. (1993). Aproximaciones a la psicoterapia: Una introducción a los tratamientos psicológicos. Barcelona: Paidós.

Field T, Diego, M., Pelaez, M., Deeds, O. & Delgado, J. (2009). Break up distress in university students. Adolescence, 44, 705-727.

Fischer, P. C. (2006). The link between posttraumatic growth and forgiveness: An intuitive truth. In L. G. Calhoun & R. G. Tedeschi (Eds.), Handbook of posttraumatic growth: Research and practice. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum

García, F. E. & Wlodarczyk, A. (2015). Psychometric properties of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory–Short Form among Chilean adults. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 21(4), 303–314. doi:10.1080/15325024.2015.1108788.

Garlan, R. W., Butler, L. D., Siegel, E. R. A. & Spiegel, D. (2011). Perceived benefits and psychosocial outcomes of a brief existential family intervention for cancer patients/survivors. Journal of Death and Dying, 62(3), 243–268. doi:10.2190/om.62.3.c.

Greenberg, L., Rice, L. y Elliot, R. (1996) Facilitando el cambio emocional. Paidós: Barcelona.

Hetherington, E. & Kelly, J. (2002). For better or for worse: Divorce reconsidered. New York: W.W. Norton.

Hofstein, Y. (2009). Coping in court-involved adolescents and the relationship with stressors, delinquency, and psychopathology. Doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts, USA.

Instituto Nacional de Estadística (2015). Justicia, Informe Anual.

Kunst, M., Winkel, F. & Bogaerts, S. (2010). Domestic violence and mental health in a Dutch community sample: The adverse role of loneliness. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 20, 419-425 doi: 10.1521/jscp.2010.29.5.527.

Krumrei, E. J., Mahoney, A. & Pargament, K. I. (2009). Divorce and the divine: The role of spirituality in adjustment to divorce. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71(2), 373–383. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00605.x

Laufer, A., Raz-Hamama, Y., Levine, S. Z. & Solomon, Z. (2009). Posttraumatic growth in adolescence: The role of religiosity, distress, and forgiveness. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 28(7), 862.880. doi:10.1521/jscp.2009.28.7.862

Lindstrom, C. M., Cann, A., Calhoun, L. G. & Tedeschi, R. G. (2013). The relationship of core belief challenge, rumination, disclosure, and sociocultural elements to posttraumatic growth. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 5(1), 50–55. doi:10.1037/a0022030

Lorenz, F., Kandauda, W., Rand, D., Conger, I. & Glen, H. (2006). The short-term and decade-long effects of divorce on women’s midlife health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 47, 111-125. doi: 10.1177/002214650604700202

Marshall T.C.; Bejanyan K. & Ferenczi N. (2013). Attachment styles and personal growth following romantic breakups: The mediating roles of distress, rumination, and tendency to rebound. PLoS ONE, 8(9): e75161. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0075161

Nathan, P., Stuart, S. & Dolan, S. (2000). Research on psychotherapy, efficacy and effectivens: Beetween Scylla and Charybdis? Psychological Bulletin, 126 (6), 964-981.

Ochoa, C., Sumalla, C., Maté, J., Castejón, V., Rodriguez, A., Blanco, I. & Gil, F. (2010). Psicoterapia positiva grupal en cáncer. Hacia una atención psicosocial integral del superviviente de cáncer. Psicooncología, 7(1). 7-34.

Opazo, R. (2001). Psicoterapia integrativa: delimitación clínica. Santiago: Ediciones ICPSI.

Páez, D., Basabe, N., Bosco, S., Campos, M., & Ubillos, S. (2011). Afrontamiento y Violencia Colectiva. En D. Páez, C. Martín Beristain, J.L. González, N. Basabe y J. de Rivera (Eds). Superando la violencia colectiva y construyendo cultura de paz, 279-309. Madrid: Editorial Fundamentos.

Park, C., Cohen, L. & Murch, R. (1996). Assessment and prediction of stress-related growth. Journal of Personality, 64(1), 71-105. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1996.tb00815.x

Ramos, C., Leal, I., & Tedeschi, R. G. (2016). Protocol for the psychotherapeutic group intervention for facilitating posttraumatic growth in nonmetastatic breast cancer patients. BMC Women’s Health, 16(1). doi:10.1186/s12905-016-0302-x

Roepke, A. M. (2015). Psychosocial interventions and posttraumatic growth: A meta-analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 83(1), 129-142. doi: 10.1037/a0036872

Roth, A. & Fonagy, P. (2005). What Works For Whom? New York: The Guildford Press.

Santibáñez, P., Román, M. & Vinet, E. (2009). Efectividad de la psicoterapia y su relación con la alianza terapéutica. Interdisciplinaria, 26(2), 267-287.

Sbarra, D. A. (2015). Divorce and health: Current trends and future directions. Psychosomatic Medicine, 77(3), 227-236. doi:10.1097/psy.0000000000000168

Sbarra, D. A. & Ferrer, E. (2006). The structure and process of emotional experience following nonmarital relationship dissolution: Dynamic factor analyses of love, anger, and sadness. Emotion, 6, 224–238. doi: 10.1037/1528-3542.6.2.224

Schneller, D. & Arditti J. (2004). After the breakup: Interpreting divorce and rethinking intimacy. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 42, 1–37.

Shakespeare-Finch, J. & Armstrong, D. (2009). Trauma type and posttrauma outcomes: Differences between survivors of motor vehicle accidents, sexual assault, and bereavement. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 15(2), 69–82. doi:10.1080/15325020903373151.

Sherr, L., Nagra, N., Kulubya, G., Catalan, J., Clucas, C., & Harding, R. (2011). HIV infection associated posttraumatic stress disorder and posttraumatic growth: A systematic review. Psychology Health and Medicine, 16, 612–629.

Sears, S., Stanton, A. & Danoff-Burg S. (2006). The yellow brick road and the emerald city: benefit finding, positive reappraisal coping and posttraumatic growth in women with early-stage breast cancer. Health Psychology, 22(5), 487–497. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.22.5.487

Simó, C., Spijker, J. & Solsona, M. (2009). Atlas of divorce and post divorce indicators in Europe. XXVI Conferencia Internacional de Población de la Unión Internacional para el Estudio Científico de la Población (IUSSP). Marrakech.

Tashiro, T. & Frazier, P. (2003). “I’ll never be in a relationship like that again”: Personal growth following romantic relationship breakups. Personal Relationships, 10, 113-128. doi: 10.1111/1475-6811.00039

Tashiro, T., Frazier, P. & Berman, M. (2006). Stress-related growth following divorce and relationship dissolution. En: M. Fine, M. & J. Harvey. Handbook of divorce and relationship dissolution. Routeledge: Nueva York.

Tedeschi, R. & Calhoun, L. (1996). The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9(3), 455-471. doi:10.1007/bf02103658

Tedeschi, R. & Calhoun, L. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15(1), 1-18. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli1501_01

Tedeschi, R. G. & McNally, R. J. (2011). Can we facilitate posttraumatic growth in combat veterans? American Psychologist, 66(1), 19–24. doi:10.1037/a0021896

Widows, M., Jacobsen, P., Booth, M. & Fields, K. (2005). Predictors of posttraumatic growth following bone marrow transplantation for cancer. Health Psychology, 24(3), 266- 73. doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.24.3.266

Yárnoz, S., Guerra, J., Comino, P., Plazaola, M. & Biurrum, J. (2008). Características demográficas, actitudes y dependencia en la adaptación al divorcio. Ansiedad y Estrés, 14(1). 43-53.

Vishnevsky, T., Cann, A., Calhoun, L., Tedeschi, R., & Demakis, G. (2010). Gender differences in self-reported posttraumatic growth: A meta-analysis. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 34, 110-120. doi:10.1037/e703122007-001

Zoellner, T., Rabe, S., Karl, A., & Maercker, A. (2008). Posttraumatic growth in accident survivors: openness and optimism as predictors of its constructive or illusory sides. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 64(3), 245–263. doi:10.1002/jclp.20441

Downloads

Published

2017-02-05

Issue

Section

Artículos

How to Cite

Psychotherapy and posttraumatic growth in divorce and separation context. (2017). Salud & Sociedad, 7(3), 320-330. https://doi.org/10.22199/S07187475.2016.0003.00006

Most read articles by the same author(s)