Posttraumatic Growth as a Process Beginning Before Bereavement: New Perspectives on Theory Development

Abstract

Calhoun and Tedeschi’s growth model focuses on cognitive processing after bereavement but it does not show the change in life narrative from beforehand. Our qualitative study aimed to clarify bereaved family growth and revealed new perspectives on posttraumatic growth (PTG), including that the PTG process involves a pre-bereavement experience and is not limited to positive psychological changes. Based on the two new perspectives, a discussion of PTG theory reveals that bereaved families’ PTG can only be accurately captured if the pre-loss experience is included; thus, Calhoun and Tedeschi’s growth model, which only captures the post-loss process, is insufficient. Additionally, positive psychological changes are not the only type of growth. When considering growth, one must focus on the process, including the experience of the person realizing that it is “okay to be who they are.”