The Role of Posttraumatic Growth in the Relationship Between Posttraumatic Stress and Prosocial Behavior

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to assess the relation between trauma exposure and prosocial behavior tendencies. One hundred and forty five individuals with trauma history and 58 individuals without any trauma exposure participated in the study. Prosocial behavior tendency mean scores of trauma and non-trauma groups were compared via t-test analysis. Moreover, posttraumatic stress symptom scores were used to measure the ongoing effect of trauma exposure on the participants. The mediating role of posttraumatic growth in the relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms and prosocial behavior tendencies were examined via mediation analysis. Results indicated that individuals with trauma history showed more prosocial behavior tendencies than individuals without any trauma exposure. In addition, posttraumatic growth had an indirect effect on the relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms and prosocial behavior tendencies. Also, this indirect effect of posttraumatic growth was sustained even when participant’s empathic tendency scores were controlled. Study findings provide important social and clinical implications.

Keywords

• rosocial behavior
• trauma
• posttraumatic growth
• posttraumatic stress