The Relative Contribution of Hope and Resilience to Post Traumatic Growth for Survivors of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Background and Purpose: Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is a construct often used to describe positive psychological change that is a byproduct of coping with a traumatic experience(s). In the aftermath of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), researchers have sought to identify various protective factors that contribute to PTG. Resilience is often used to describe one such protective factor. However, recent research supports that hope may be more strongly associated with well-being post adversity than resilience. Methods: To test the relative contribution of hope and resilience to PTG for ACE survivors, we conducted a cross sectional study of ACE survivors (N = 152) consisting of established psychometric measures of hope, resilience, and PTG. Results: Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we found that a model of hope, resilience, and PTG as distinct factors fit the data well (Χ² = 124.2, df = 149; p < .001; RMSEA = .082 [90% CI: .091, .102]; CFI: .944; SRMR: .079). Moreover, the model accounted for robust variance in PTG (R² = .077) and indicated that hope (β = .22; p = .05) was a stronger predictor of PTG for ACE survivors than resilience (β = .09; p = .416). Conclusions and Implications: Such results have implications for practitioners, suggesting that hope theory-based therapy models may be useful in furthering PTG for ACE survivors.