Factors Contributing to Posttraumatic Growth Following Bereavement

Multiple factors have been studied to determine their relationship to posttraumatic growth, with findings suggesting the importance of resiliency (Bensimon, 2012), social support (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004), event centrality (Taku et al., 2014), religious coping (Pargament et al., 2006), relationship to the deceased (Oginska–Bulik, 2015), and the circumstance of passing (Feigelman et al., 2009). This study investigated the relationship of these identified factors with posttraumatic growth in a sample of 165 bereaved individuals. Regression results indicated that the overall model predicted scores on posttraumatic growth ( R 2 = .473, R 2 adj = .456, F (5, 159) = 28.51, p < .001), with most robust effects found in social support ( β = .281), religious commitment ( β = .289), and event centrality ( β = .410). This indicates bereavement experiences can result in significant growth in individuals, particularly those who seek social support, identify the event as an essential part of their experience, and identify religion as an important aspect of their routine.

Negative Posttraumatic Cognitions Color the Pathway from Event Centrality to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms

Background The centrality of an event indicates the extent to which it becomes a core part of identity and life story. Event centrality (EC) has been shown to have a strong relationship with PTSD symptoms, which seems to be indirectly influenced by negative posttraumatic cognitions (PTC). However, research on this potential mediation and its causal links particularly with clinical samples is limited and essential to derive treatment implications. Methods Pre- and posttreatment data of 103 day-unit patients with PTSD was examined using mediation analyses and structural equation modeling. Results Negative PTC mediated the relationship between EC and PTSD symptoms, partially pre- and completely posttreatment. Within extended longitudinal analyses causal directions of the mediation pathways were not adequately interpretable due to unexpected suppression effects. Conclusions The results suggest that EC may only have an indirect effect on PTSD symptoms through negative PTC. Thus, decreasing negative PTC which are connected to centralized events might be a key element for PTSD treatment. Thereby, transforming the cognitions’ valence to more positive and constructive forms could be crucial rather than mere decentralization. Although suppression effects limited causal inferences, they do not contradict the mediation and further indicate potential interactional terms and a transformation of EC.

Post-traumatic growth mediates the relationship between valences of trauma centralisation and health-related quality of life

Emotions arising from health-related trauma can be complex (as positive and negative feelings are possible) and can influence the way patients perceive themselves and the world. Health outcomes can also be affected by the valence of emotions. We hypothesised that post-traumatic growth is the mediating link between the valences of event centrality and health-related quality of life among people living with HIV. Three hundred (male = 194 and female = 106; mean age = 35.30 years) people living with HIV in Nigeria completed measures of relevant variables. Mediation analysis was performed using path analysis and structural equation modelling. Results showed that post-traumatic growth mediated the association between positive event centrality and health-related quality of life in the physical health symptoms and treatment impact domains. Post-traumatic growth also mediated the association between negative event centrality and health-related quality of life in the physical health symptom and relationship domains. In light of these findings, it might be concluded that fostering post-traumatic growth among people living with HIV by clinicians could be helpful in enhancing the health-related quality of life of people living with HIV.

Using Spectator Matter for Centrality Determination in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

One of the common methods to measure the centrality of nucleus-nucleus collision events consists of detecting forward spectator neutrons. Because of non-monotonic dependence of neutron numbers on centrality, other characteristics of spectator matter in 197Au–197Au collisions at NICA must be considered to improve the centrality determination. The numbers of spectator deuterons and α-particles and the forward–backward asymmetry of the numbers of free spectator nucleons were calculated with the Abrasion–Ablation Monte Carlo for Colliders (AAMCC) model as functions of event centrality. It was shown that the number of charged fragments per spectator nucleon decreases monotonically with an increase of the impact parameter, and thus can be used to estimate the collision centrality. The conditional probabilities that a given event with specific spectator characteristics belongs to a certain centrality class were calculated by means of AAMCC. Such probabilities can be used as an input to Bayesian or other machine-learning approaches to centrality determination in 197Au–197Au collisions.

Study of Production of (Anti-)deuteron Observed in Au+Au Collisions at s NN = 14.5 , 62.4, and 200 GeV

Transverse momentum distributions of deuterons and antideuterons in Au + Au collisions at s NN = 14.5 , 62.4, and 200 GeV with different centrality are studied in the framework of the multisource thermal model. Transverse momentum spectra are conformably and approximately described by the Tsallis distribution. The dependence of parameters (average transverse momenta, effective temperature, and entropy index) on event centrality is obtained. It is found that the parameters T increase and q decrease with increase of the average number of particles involved in collisions, which reveals the transverse excitation degree increases with collision centrality.