Changes or not is the question: The meaning of posttraumatic stress reactions one year after the Taiwan Chi-Chi Earthquake

Resource gains and resource losses, based on the Conservation of Resources Theory, are equally important in trauma recovery. This study was to investigate their influence on the severity of posttraumatic stress reactions and psychosocial adjustment patterns of the residents in two severely damaged townships. Five hundred and fifty six adults (157 males and 399 females) were assessed in terms of objective and subjective threat (of losses), subjective evaluations of changes in life domains and coping resources, and severity of posttraumatic symptoms one year after the Earthquake. The results showed that those who reported No Change, compared to those were either better or worse, had the least severity of PTSD symptoms. The subjective evaluation of changes in life domains and subjective threat were positively associated with changes in coping resources, but not the severity of PTSD symptoms. Results are discussed from the viewpoint of Cox's Stress Model and Wu's Life-Energy Stress Model, and it is suggested that successful coping might be accompanied by PTSD symptoms. Reconsideration and expansion of the meaning of changed vs. unchanged following a traumatic experience is also discussed.