Rumination, event centrality, and perceived control as predictors of post-traumatic growth and distress: The Cognitive Growth and Stress model

Abstract

Objectives: The Cognitive Growth and Stress (CGAS) model draws together cognitive processing factors previously untested in a single model. Intrusive rumination, deliberate rumination, present and future perceptions of control and event centrality were assessed as predictors of posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress.
Method: The CGAS model is tested on a sample of survivors (N = 250) of a diverse range of adverse events using structural equation modelling techniques.
Results: Overall, the best fitting model was supportive of the theorised relations between cognitive constructs, and accounted for 30% of the variance in posttraumatic growth and 68% of the variance in posttraumatic stress across the sample.
Conclusions: Rumination, centrality and perceived control factors are significant determinants of positive and negative psychological change across the wide spectrum of adversarial events. In its first phase of development, the CGAS model also provides further evidence of the distinct processes of growth and distress following adversity.