The literature on post-traumatic growth has been instrumental in highlighting the human capacity to overcome adversity by illuminating different pathways that individuals may follow when confronted with adversity. However, while the theme of “strength from adversity” is attractive and central to many disciplines and certain cultural narratives, these claims lack robust empirical evidence. Specific methodological issues include the ubiquity of retrospective assessments of post-traumatic growth. Conceptually, limitations exist in the examination of which outcomes are most appropriate for studying post-traumatic growth. The authors present an overview of directions that new research should focus on in order to overcome these limitations, with a focus on prospective longitudinal designs that incorporate multiple methods of assessments and the value of integrating these disciplines for furthering our understanding of the human capacity to overcome adversity. The book is divided into four substantive sections to more thoroughly examine the conceptual and methodological limitations of this literature: (1) current challenges in examining post-traumatic growth, (2) methodological advancements (with a focus on innovative assessment strategies), (3) research in specific populations (cancer survivors, US minority communities, armed forces personnel and older adult samples), and (4) new directions for research (focusing on examining event characteristics of adverse events as well as narrative identity, wisdom, and open-mindedness as key growth outcomes).
