Post Traumatic Growth after COVID-19 as a Function of Cognitive Emotional Regulation and Emotional Intelligence
Faculty Mentor
Jillene Seiver
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
10-5-2023 12:25 PM
End Date
10-5-2023 12:45 PM
Location
PUB 321
Department
Psychology
Abstract
Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) is generally defined as a blanket term for the desirable mental change directly developed by the difficulty of navigating extreme life events (Kou et al., 2021). Thomas et al. (2020) described emotional intelligence’s (EI) effect as a mediator upon cognitive emotional regulation (CER) and Post traumatic growth (PTG). The 2020 study found positive and significant relationships of all adaptive CER strategies to both EI and PTG. Such resiliency increases can be used as a measure of overall Mental Wellness and the likelihood of remission from PTSD (Connor, 2006).
Conducted after the “height” of the COVID-19 pandemic, the current study combines the trauma event sources from Thomas et al. (2020) through a 2+ year, and an ongoing unique opportunity to widely study a protracted stressor (COVID-19 Pandemic) with varying levels of isolated yet related HMS events. 182 adult participants of a mostly student population (91%) were recruited from Eastern Washington University summer and fall quarter psychology classes, after IRB approval. Via SurveyMonkey, all participants completed four scales assessing trauma history (THS), cognitive-emotional regulation (CERQ), emotional intelligence (AES/SREIS), post-traumatic growth (PTGI), and several items regarding COVID-19’s impact.
Our hypothesis were partially supported: (H1) Thomas et al. (2020)’s findings would be generally supported; (H2) that grief would correlate with EI and PTG in parallel patterns to trauma history; and (H3) HMS would positively correlate with PTG, CER, and EI factors. These results support EI’s importance with what positive psychology calls “the good life” through times of distress as well as when encountering daily average life events. Utilization of cognitive and behavioral coping skills to assist the internal narrative navigation post-event is crucial to outcome potentials. Additionally, support for the exploration of separate grief items on distress and anxiety related measures will be discussed.
Recommended Citation
Ssebanakitta, Bakima, "Post Traumatic Growth after COVID-19 as a Function of Cognitive Emotional Regulation and Emotional Intelligence" (2023). 2023 Symposium. 8.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2023/res_2023/os3_2023/8
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Post Traumatic Growth after COVID-19 as a Function of Cognitive Emotional Regulation and Emotional Intelligence
PUB 321
Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) is generally defined as a blanket term for the desirable mental change directly developed by the difficulty of navigating extreme life events (Kou et al., 2021). Thomas et al. (2020) described emotional intelligence’s (EI) effect as a mediator upon cognitive emotional regulation (CER) and Post traumatic growth (PTG). The 2020 study found positive and significant relationships of all adaptive CER strategies to both EI and PTG. Such resiliency increases can be used as a measure of overall Mental Wellness and the likelihood of remission from PTSD (Connor, 2006).
Conducted after the “height” of the COVID-19 pandemic, the current study combines the trauma event sources from Thomas et al. (2020) through a 2+ year, and an ongoing unique opportunity to widely study a protracted stressor (COVID-19 Pandemic) with varying levels of isolated yet related HMS events. 182 adult participants of a mostly student population (91%) were recruited from Eastern Washington University summer and fall quarter psychology classes, after IRB approval. Via SurveyMonkey, all participants completed four scales assessing trauma history (THS), cognitive-emotional regulation (CERQ), emotional intelligence (AES/SREIS), post-traumatic growth (PTGI), and several items regarding COVID-19’s impact.
Our hypothesis were partially supported: (H1) Thomas et al. (2020)’s findings would be generally supported; (H2) that grief would correlate with EI and PTG in parallel patterns to trauma history; and (H3) HMS would positively correlate with PTG, CER, and EI factors. These results support EI’s importance with what positive psychology calls “the good life” through times of distress as well as when encountering daily average life events. Utilization of cognitive and behavioral coping skills to assist the internal narrative navigation post-event is crucial to outcome potentials. Additionally, support for the exploration of separate grief items on distress and anxiety related measures will be discussed.
