Felipe E. García

Trauma or growth after a natural disaster? The mediating role of rumination processes

The aim of this study was to test a cognitive model of posttraumatic symptoms (PTS) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) after exposure to a natural disaster. It was hypothesized that although subjective severity of trauma would be related to the severity of PTS, this relation would be mediated by brooding and cognitive strategies related to the presence of repetitive negative content in thoughts. Furthermore, the relation between severity and PTG would be fully mediated by deliberate rumination (DR), cognitive strategies related to conscious efforts focused on handling the event. To evaluate the cognitive model, adults (N=351) who lost their homes as a result of the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Chile on February 27, 2010, were selected. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The resulting model had adequate indices of goodness adjustment and showed that brooding completely mediated the relation between subjective severity and PTS, and DR completely mediated the relation between subjective severity, brooding, and PTG. These results highlight the role of both the content and process of rumination in mediating the association between subjective severity of trauma, PTS, and PTG. The implications of these results for a more comprehensive model of symptom severity that occurs after trauma are discussed.

Coping, rumination and posttraumatic growth in people affected by an earthquake

BACKGROUND In this article, the evaluation of a structural model that seeks to identify predictors and mediators of posttraumatic growth (PTG) of people affected by a natural disaster is presented. METHOD The sample was composed of 349 adult men and women who experienced the earthquake and tsunami on February 27, 2010 in Chile. A modeling with structural equations was used, contrasting two predictive models of PTG. The latent variables assessed were subjective severity, social sharing of emotion, intrusive rumination, deliberate rumination, problem-focused coping and posttraumatic growth. RESULTS The best fit was obtained with the model that shows a direct influence of the subjective severity, problem-focused coping, and deliberate rumination in the presence of PTG. Problem-focused coping mediated the relation between subjective severity and social sharing with PTG. In turn, deliberate rumination mediated the relation of problem-focused coping and intrusive rumination with PTG. CONCLUSIONS The results show the relevant role of cognitive processes such as deliberate rumination and behavioral processes such as problem-focused coping in the presence of PTG.

Psychometric Properties of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory–Short Form Among Chilean Adults

ABSTRACT This study evaluated the factorial structure, internal consistency, and construct validity of the Chilean version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory–Short Form. The participants were 1,817 Chilean adults who had experienced the 2010 earthquake in Chile or other highly stressful events. Confirmatory factorial analysis supported the correlated five-factor structure of the PTGI-SF. A multigroup confirmatory factor analysis confirmed measurement invariance across different samples. Concurrent validity was assessed by correlation. These findings suggest that the psychometric properties of the PTGI-SF are adequate to measure posttraumatic growth in the Chilean and Latin American population.

Psychometric properties of the Brief-COPE for the evaluation of coping strategies in the Chilean population

The Brief-COPE is an abbreviated version of the COPE (Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced) Inventory, a self-report questionnaire developed to assess a broad range of coping responses. Currently, it is one of the best validated and most frequently used measures of coping strategies. The aim of this study was to validate a culturally appropriate Chilean version of the Brief-COPE, assess its psychometric properties and construct and congruent validity. The Spanish version of the Brief-COPE was administrated in a community sample of 1847 Chilean adult (60.4% women) exposed to a variety of stressful experiences. The factorial structure of the inventory was examined by comparing four different models found in previous studies in Latin American population. The results of confirmatory factor analyses revealed, as in the original studies, a 14-factor structure of the Brief-COPE. These dimensions showed adequate internal structure and consistency. The factorial invariance comparing women and men confirmed strict invariance. Additionally, the results showed significant correlation between some Brief-COPE scales, such as denial and substance use, with perceived stress and emotional support and active coping with subjective well-being. Overall, the present work offers a valid and reliable tool for assessing coping strategies in the Chilean population.

Propiedades psicométricas de la Escala de Satisfacción con la Vida en población ecuatoriana adulta

Objetivo. Analizar las propiedades psicometricas de la Escala de Satisfaccion con la Vida (SWLS, por sus siglas en ingles) en poblacion ecuatoriana adulta. Metodo. Se realizo un analisis factorial confirmatorio en el que participaron 756 ecuatorianos adultos. Resultados. Al igual que en la escala original, el analisis de esta investigacion mostro un alto ajuste en el modelo con un solo factor. Si bien los hombres presentaron mayores niveles de satisfaccion con la vida que las mujeres, el analisis de invarianza evidencio que la estructura factorial de la escala es equivalente en ambos sexos, lo que permite su comparacion. En el analisis de confiabilidad, la SWLS presento adecuada consistencia interna (α = 0.81). Conclusion. La SWLS es una herramienta util para el estudio de la satisfaccion con la vida en poblacion adulta ecuatoriana.

Religiosity, psychosocial factors, and well-being: An examination among a national sample of Chileans.

In this study, we analyzed the association between public religiosity, private religiosity, and life satisfaction in a representative sample of the Chilean population. Religiosity was associated with low income and low socioeconomic status and with being older and female. These variables were negatively associated with satisfaction with life. However, attendance at collective religious rituals was associated with life satisfaction, while private religiosity was unrelated. These results support the view that it is the social aspect of religion that benefits well-being. Controlling for gender, age, and socioeconomic variables, public religiosity predicts life satisfaction. Participation in religious rituals was associated with high social support and affect balance (low negative and high positive affect). Mediational analyses that included all variables related to public religiosity (main predictor) and to life satisfaction (dependent variable) showed that attendance to religious rituals had a direct effect on well-being, and also a significant indirect effect on well-being through high social support and low negative affect. Results are discussed with respect to the role of public rituals in the Chilean collectivistic culture.

The four faces of rumination to stressful events: A psychometric analysis.

Objective: To increase the knowledge of rumination and its associations with stressful events, we explored the relationships between 4 types of rumination (brooding, reflection, intrusive, and deliberate rumination) in a sample of 750 adult participants who experienced a highly stressful event. We also explored the predictive value of the different types of rumination on posttraumatic stress symptoms and posttraumatic growth 6 months after the highly stressful event occurred. Method: Participants completed the Ruminative Response Scale and the Event-Related Rumination Inventory. Brooding and reflection rumination were obtained from the Ruminative Response Scale, whereas deliberate and intrusive rumination were obtained from the Event-Related Rumination Inventory. Confirmatory factorial analyses were conducted using the 4 types of rumination to test 3 different models: (a) 4-factor model (brooding, reflection, intrusive, and deliberate rumination), (b) 2-factor model: adaptive rumination (reflection and deliberate) and maladaptive rumination (brooding and intrusive), and (c) 2-factor model: depressive rumination (brooding and reflection) and posttraumatic rumination (intrusive and deliberate). Results: It was observed that the 4-factor model showed the best fit to the data. Moreover, 6 months later it was observed that the most significant predictor of posttraumatic symptoms was intrusive rumination, whereas deliberate rumination was the most significant predictor of posttraumatic growth. Conclusions: Results indicate that the 4 types of rumination are differentiated constructs. Ruminative thoughts experienced after a stressful event predicted posttraumatic consequences 6 months later. Implications of these findings are discussed.