Can a Healing
Camp Boost
Posttraumatic
Growth among
Children?
Irene Searles McClatchey,
PhD, LCSW
Camp MAGIK/Kennesaw
State University
Resilience
Resilience
– exhibited by those who do
deal with a trauma without developing
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
symptoms
Exhibit problem-solving abilities, selfesteem
Sense of competence
Focus on the present and the future –
repressing coping style
Posttraumatic Growth (PTG)
Develop
PTSD or PTSD symptoms
Grows from the experience:
New appreciation for life
Sees new possibilities
More compassion for others
Posttraumatic Growth, cont.
The
trauma itself does not create PTG – it
is the struggle these children experience
afterwards to try to understand the
experience and to accept their new
reality that creates PTG
(Norwegian study)
Resilience and PTG in a
Nutshell
Resilience
lets children who have
experienced traumatic events to adapt
well in spite of the traumatic event
PTG involves a positive alteration created
by the traumatic event and subsequent
struggles
Sample
Children
and adolescents ages six-18
Recruited through the school system
(purposive sample)
Expected losses included cancer; liver
and respiratory failure; end-stage heart
disease; multi-system failure (35%)
Sudden or violent losses included murder;
suicide; heart attacks; drowning; car
accidents; and routine surgery (65%)
Sample, cont.
65
campers were pre-tested using the
Posttraumatic Growth Inventory for Children
(PTGI-C)
Gender:
Males
49%
Females 51%
Ethnicities
White
62%
African American 35%
Latino 3%
Sample, cont.
Type of loss
Father 46%
Mother 26%
Guardian grandparent 9%
Sibling 19%
Age
6 – 18
Mean 11.3 (SD=2.8)
Time since loss
1-48 months
Mean 12.4 (SD=13.4)
Instrumentation
Posttraumatic
Growth Inventory for
Children (PTGI-C) developed by Cryder,
Kilmer, Tedeschi, & Calhoun
Self report
Likert scale
1(Not
at all true for me)
4 (Very true for me)
Cronbach’s alpha 0.89
Instrumentation, cont.
21 questions, five domains
New possibilities – “I have new things that I like
to do”
Relating to others – “I learned that some people
will be there for me and help me if something
bad happens”
Personal strength – “I learned that I can handle
my problems”
Appreciation for life – “I feel like each day is
important”
Spiritual change – “My spiritual/religious beliefs
are stronger now”
The Intervention
Trauma Informed Care in a Camp Setting
Telling of their stories (exposure)
Coping skills
Relaxation and breathing exercises
Cognitive restructuring
Other Activities
Identification of feelings
Journaling
Art work
Traditional camp activities
Results
32
campers completed the posttest (49%)
Paired samples t-test
Mean pre-test score=57 (SD=22.77)
Mean posttest score=68.28 (SD=10.28)
Statistically significant at the .05 level
(p=0.013)
Results, cont.
Predictors
of PTG using multiple regression:
Objective trauma experience (p<0.01)
Age only if used as a single variable
(p<0.05)
Limitations
Design
does not control for threats to
internal validity (history, testing,
maturation, dropout)
External validity – results cannot be
generalized
Implications for Research and
Practice
Use
of a controlled study
Larger and more diverse sample
Provide trauma-informed care to children
bereaved by trauma
References
Brewer, J., & Sparkes, A. C. (2011). Parentally bereaved children
and posttraumatic growth: Insights from an ethnographic study of a
UK childhood bereavement service. Mortality, 16(3), 204-222.
Brown, A. C., Sandler, I., Tein, J., Liu, X., & Haine, R. (2007).
Implications of parental suicide and violent death for promotion of
resilience of parentally-bereaved children. Death Studies, 31(4),
301-335.
Brown, A. C., Sandler, I., Tein, J., Liu, X., & Haine, R. (2007).
Implications of parental suicide and violent death for promotion of
resilience of parentally-bereaved children. Death Studies, 31(4),
301-335.
Cryder, C. H., Kilmer, R. P., Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2006).
An exploratory study of posttraumatic growth in children following
a natural disaster. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76(1), 6569.
McClatchey, I. S., Barefoot, N. (2014). Can trauma-focused care
improve posttraumatic growth – A pilot study. Under review.
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