Document Type
Article
Abstract
This study explored aspects of Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) amongst Australian Bravery Award recipients exposed to serious or life-threatening trauma. PTG is the process whereby some people experience growth following traumatic experiences. Previous PTG research has focused on specific disasters, incidents or cohorts of survivors. We explored a range of incidents in both civilian and non-civilian award recipients. Sixty-five Australian Bravery Award recipients (37 civilian and 28 non-civilian) completed the Post Traumatic Growth Inventory and provided additional demographic information about their bravery incident. Results showed that civilians experienced significantly higher growth (mean PTG score = 49.7 than non-civilians (mean PTG score = 29.5). PTG varied by gender, with female award recipients having much higher PTG scores (mean 65.9) than males (mean 29.5). Australian Bravery Award recipients involved in violent incidents reported significantly higher PTG, with civilians involved in firearm related incidents reporting a mean PTG score of 65.5 compared to non-civilians at 34.8. Not all individuals involved in traumatic incidents have PTG, however we found that 73% of civilian bravery award recipients experienced moderate to high levels of growth following serious life-threatening incidents compared with 22.1% of non-civilians.
DOI
10.26736/hs.2022.01.02
Recommended Citation
Voigt, Tom; Williams, Joanne; Bennett, Catherine M.; Dew, Angela; and Balandin, Susan
(2022)
"Post Traumatic Growth Amongst Australian Bravery Award Recipients,"
Heroism Science: Vol. 7:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
DOI: 10.26736/hs.2022.01.02
Available at:
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/heroism-science/vol7/iss1/2