The Roles Of Self-esteem And Rumination In The Associations Between Resilience And Post-traumatic Growth Among Individuals Affected By AIDS

PTG refers to positive psychological changes resulted from individuals’ struggle against their main threatening life adversity.This growth suggests a kind of life that is more plump,more plentiful and more meaningful.The present research used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the relationships among resilience,self-esteem,rumination and posttraumatic growth(PTG)in individuals affected by AIDS.In quantitative research,we used revised Conner-Davidson scale,revised self-respect Questionnaire(SES),the event related rumination inventory(ERRI)and revised posttraumatic growth resilience scale(PTGI)as tools.Twenty hundreds and thirty-eight college students who affected by AIDS were chosen to explore the relationship among their resilience,intrusive rumination,deliberate rumination,self-esteem and posttraumatic growth.Main results were as follows:(1)the average PTG among individuals affected by AIDS was high(M=3.55);(2)Resilience could affect PTG directly(β= 0.639,p <0.001),via deliberate rumination indirectly,also via the indirect way which intrusive rumination influenced deliberate rumination.(3)Self-esteem moderated the path from resilience to intrusive rumination: only for persons with low self-esteem,resilience had an effect on intrusive rumination(simple slope =0.57);but not for the high-esteem group(simple slope = 0.09).In qualitative research,we conducted semi-structured interviews with four individuals chosen from the above research,and collect data to explore their PTG,resiliency protective factor,as well as the relationship between resilience and PTG.The results were as follows:(1)Individuals who suffered the event that their families were infected by HIV reflected the posttraumatic growth.For example,they became more independent;the event enhanced their personal strength and the appreciation of life aspects.(2)There were individual differences on resiliency protective factors:individuals with higher resilience showed more PTG experience.(3)All three factors of resilience were reflected on individuals affected by AIDS.These protective factors contributed to their posttraumatic growth.