Social Problem-Solving and Posttraumatic Growth among United States Military Veterans
Authors:   , Giannone Derek Anthony , Nezu Arthur M. 
Published: July 2021

The present study hypothesized that social problem-solving (SPS), or the process by which a person understands, devises, and implements strategies to resolve problems they encounter in life, is a factor that contributes to the experience of PTG in United States Military Veterans. This research study was developed to examine the relative contributions of components in the SPS model to levels of PTG in Veterans, and explore additional relationships that may provide insight to the nature of SPS and PTG in relation to stressful or traumatic events. Participants were 154 individuals who indicated that they were Veterans of the United States Military and completed a demographics questionnaire and three standardized self-report instruments. Recruitment was conducted through a mixed-methods approach, consisting of individuals recruited in-person through a local Veterans organization in Philadelphia, PA, and online through the use of snowball sampling and Amazon's Mechanical Turk. The three study instruments completed by participants were the Social Problem-Solving Inventory - Revised: Short Form (SPSI-R:SF) to measure social problem-solving orientations and styles, the Posttraumatic Checklist for the DSM-V (PCL-5) to measure posttraumatic stress symptoms, and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory - Revised (PTGI) to measure perceived growth after a stressful or traumatic event. The main research questions of this study consisted of hierarchical multiple linear regression models that investigated the relative contributions of SPS model components to PTG and symptoms of PTSD. Reported tobacco use was found to be a significant predictor of PTG in the sample, while combat experience, deployment experience, and alcohol use were significant predictors. These variables were included as covariates in the main regression analyses to control for their impact on the outcomes of interest. The effective SPS factors of positive problem orientation (PPO) and rational/planful problem-solving style (RPS) were significant predictors of PTG, while the ineffective SPS factor of negative problem orientation (NPO) was a significant predictor of PTSD symptoms. The secondary aim of this study was to explore the form of the relationship between PTG and PTSD, and explore the contributions of trauma-related characteristics to variability in PTG. PTG was found to have a curvilinear association with PTSD symptoms, and was unrelated to both the perceived stressfulness and perceived impact of the event at the time it occurred. The findings of this study establish an important association between SPS and PTG, which reveals that increases in effective SPS factors corresponds to increases in PTG. Further, this study replicates previous research findings that NPO to be an important predictor of PTSD symptoms, and PTG to be highest in individuals with moderate levels of PTSD symptoms. Our results suggest that SPS plays a role in both symptoms of PTSD and levels of PTG, indicating that Problem-Solving Therapy (PST), an evidence-based psychosocial intervention that aims to facilitate adaptive problem-solving attitudes and strategies to reduce the negative impact of stressors, can be effective in reducing symptoms of PTSD and facilitating PTG in the wake of trauma. Future studies should replicate these initial findings and explore factors underlying the connection between SPS and PTG. Future PST interventions and programs aimed toward those who have experienced psychological trauma should include measures of perceived growth, and examine the longitudinal associations between SPS and PTG.