Posttraumatic Growth and Resilience after a Prolonged War: A Study in Baghdad, Iraq

Although traumatic events are usually associated with posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD), many study have also reported that exposure to traumatic events might also lead to psychological growth, known as posttraumatic growth (PTG). The main aim of this study is to investigate whether resilience has a significant role in developing PTG among individuals who were exposed to Iraq wars in 2003. Baghdad Trauma History Screen (BTHS) and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) were distributed to 450 postgraduate students from the University of Bahgdad, Iraq. After performing a factor analysis on the resilience scale, two factors of resilience can be included in the measurement. They are namely "adaptive capacity," and "positive reception to change." Multiple regression analyses showed that both factors of resilience have significant influence on PTG. The discussion parts mentioned that developing resilience might help the individuals to develop PTG after being exposed to traumatic events. Future research and practical implication were also suggested at the end of the paper.