Figure 1. A report, a baseline, and a change are different records
Four studies that followed people over time compared the growth people credited to the event with the change researchers measured. Each row keeps its own event, sample, time span, and result, and the rows are not combined.
| Study | Who took part, and how many | What was compared | Result | What it does not show |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S2 | Two-month prospective study; n=122 event subgroup | Growth reported on the questionnaire versus measured change in the matching areas | Generally unrelated | Does not show that growth never happens |
| S3 | Two-wave student study; n=282 baseline; n=219 to 221 raw follow-up; n=214 to 218 full-sample analytic; 66 raw event reports; n=61 to 64 analytic event subset | Perceived PTG, perceived general growth, and measured pre-to-post change | Perceived PTG was not significantly related to the other two; perceived general growth was significantly related to measured change | Does not reach beyond the small group of students who had a trauma |
| S4 | Stem-cell-transplant study; n=187 first; n=157 second; n=91 third | Questionnaire at follow-up versus repeated measures of the same areas | Weakly related overall; not significantly related in three of five areas | Gives no estimate for other kinds of trauma; many patients dropped out |
| S7 | Three waves over six months; Wave 1 n=804; 32,099 daily assessments | Perceived growth versus later change in current standing and in daily ratings | Did not predict later measured change in the tested models | Does not cover longer periods or every subgroup |
- Does not prove
- The figure does not show that positive change never happens, determine whether a particular report is accurate, predict any person's recovery, or tell a reader what care to seek.
- Scope
- Four prospective or measurement-burst studies published from 2009 through 2024
- Units
- Participants, completed questionnaires, experience-sampling assessments, and direction-of-result labels
- Denominator
- Study-specific only; the rows must not be summed: S2 n=122; S3 baseline n=282, 219 to 221 raw follow-up returns, 214 to 218 full-sample analytic comparisons, 66 raw event reports, and n=61 to 64 in trauma-subset analytic comparisons; S4 n=187 first, 157 second, and 91 third; S7 Wave 1 n=804 and 32,099 assessments
- Date
- Sources first published online from 2009-06-08 through 2023-07-20, with S7 in a 2024 issue; observed 2026-09-05
- Transformation
- Findings are paraphrased with study-specific direction labels; no pooling, standardization, interpolation, or cross-study ranking is performed
- Uncertainty
- Events, samples, follow-up windows, measures, attrition, and statistical models differ across rows
- Limitations
- The table shows selected studies and leaves others out. None of the samples represents every kind of adverse event or recovery context.
Sources
- Does Self-Reported Posttraumatic Growth Reflect Genuine Positive Change?. Psychological Science. Published 2009-06-08; observed 2026-09-05.
- Perceptions of Change after a Trauma and Perceived Posttraumatic Growth: A Prospective Examination. Behavioral Sciences. Published 2019-01-15; observed 2026-09-05.
- Retrospective and prospective measures of post-traumatic growth reflect different processes. BMC Psychiatry. Published 2021-01-11; observed 2026-09-05.
- Does Perceived Posttraumatic Growth Predict Observed Changes in Current-Standing and State Posttraumatic Growth?. Clinical Psychological Science. Published 2023-07-20; observed 2026-09-05.