Investigation of variables that provided post-traumatic growth in university students with trauma

The purpose of this study is to examine whether there is a significant difference between post-traumatic growth levels according to various demographic characteristics of university students who have experienced trauma, and to determine the post traumatic growth's predictors. Another aim of the research is to determine whether event centrality associates with both post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic stress symptoms after traumatic events in Turkey sample. The study group reached by appropriate sampling consists of 462 (75.8% female, 24.2% male) traumatized university students. Demographic Information Form, Traumatic Experience Screening List, Post Traumatic Growth Scale-X, one subscale of Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale for traumatic stress symptoms, Centrality of Event Scale, The Core Beliefs Inventory and Stress Coping Scale were used as data collection tools. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 23 package program with independent samples t test, One Way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression analysis methods. As a result of the study, it was observed that the level of growth differed statistically significant, according to faculty, education status of parents and perceived level of being affected by the traumatic event. As a result of the regression analysis, it was found that all the stress coping skills were a statistically significant positive predictor of growth. It was found that disruption of core beliefs was a significant predictor of growth whereas event centrality was not. Finally, it was found that event centrality was associated with both growth and stress symptoms. The findings were discussed in the light of the relevant literature.