Post-traumatic growth among 5195 adolescents at 8.5 years after exposure to the Wenchuan earthquake: Roles of post-traumatic stress disorder and self-esteem

We evaluated the level of post-traumatic growth in a large sample of Chinese adolescent earthquake survivors (n = 5195) and relationships among self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorder, and post-traumatic growth. This cross-sectional study indicated that the prevalence of post-traumatic growth among adolescent survivors was 14.8 percent. Post-traumatic growth was independently associated with self-esteem, severity of exposures, and avoidance facets of post-traumatic stress disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder was found to be partially mediated by self-esteem on post-traumatic growth; and post-traumatic stress disorder was also a mediator between earthquake exposure and post-traumatic growth. This study suggests that future longitudinal research and clinical practice should test whether promoting self-esteem can enhance post-traumatic stress disorder treatment.

Automated summary

The study found that the prevalence of post-traumatic growth among Chinese adolescent earthquake survivors was 14.8%, with relationships with self-esteem, severity of exposure, and avoidance facets of post-traumatic stress disorder. Self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder and post-traumatic growth, while post-traumatic stress disorder also mediated the relationship between earthquake exposure and post-traumatic growth.