Adapting Positively to Trauma: Associations of Posttraumatic Growth, Wisdom, and Virtues in Survivors of Civil War

This study demonstrates that wisdom may serve as a bridge between posttraumatic growth and virtues, such as forgiveness and hope. While wisdom is often regarded as a philosophical concept, this research highlights its practical significance.

A growing body of research is emerging on the role of adaptive resources and processes that support positive transformation in the aftermath of adversity.

However, few studies in this strand have focused on people who have had prolonged exposure to a complex climate of trauma through long-term civil war. This study examined wisdom as a process by which posttraumatic growth is associated with trait forgivingness and trait hope in a cross-sectional sample of N = 531 Colombian civil war survivors (68.7% female; Mage = 42.35, SD = 13.56). Self-report measures included the 21-item Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, Self-Assessed Wisdom Scale, Trait Forgivingness Scale, and Herth Hope Index.

Using structural equation modeling, we found that posttraumatic growth and the virtues of trait forgivingness and trait hope were associated both directly and indirectly via wisdom. The findings provide preliminary evidence suggesting that wisdom might partially mediate the association between posttraumatic growth and virtues, which sets the stage for prospective longitudinal research to establish causal relations illustrating that posttraumatic growth produces virtues in survivors of civil conflict to the extent that it stimulates wisdom.

Read the Article “Adapting Positively to Trauma: Associations of Posttraumatic Growth, Wisdom, and Virtues in Survivors of Civil War” https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10926771.2021.1970672