The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan was an extraordinarily stressful incident that caused harmful psychological reactions, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among affected individuals. However, a proportion of exposed individuals experienced posttraumatic growth (PTG), characterized by a noticeable degree of personal strength, spirituality, life appreciation, perception of new possibilities in life, and enhanced relationships with others. Some researchers have argued that these positive reactions may be an illusory change related to coping with traumatic events. We examined trajectory patterns related to PTG Inventory (PTGI) subscales to elucidate the existence of both real and illusory growth regarding quality of life (QoL), utilizing group-based trajectory models. Three online questionnaires were distributed at 6 months (N = 2,554; M age = 47.04 years, SD = 12.62), 12 months (N = 887; M age = 48.11 years, SD = 12.43), and 42 months (N = 560; M age = 48.86 years, SD = 12.25) postdisaster. Participants responded to items related to demographic characteristics, disaster experiences, posttraumatic stress symptoms, PTG, and QoL. Three main PTG trajectories emerged, characterized by growth, no growth, and illusory growth, with QoL as a time invariant covariate. Compared with the growth trajectory, the odds ratios (ORs) for no growth ranged from 2.27 to 5.04; for illusory growth, the ORs ranged from 2.09 to 4.67. To our knowledge, this was the first study to report growth trajectories related to PTGI subscales and their underlying differences in psychological mechanisms and processes following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

中文翻译：

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2011 年东北地震和海啸后的创伤后成长轨迹及其与生活质量的关系

2011 年日本东北部地震和海啸是一次异常紧张的事件，在受影响的人中引起了有害的心理反应，例如创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD)。然而，一部分暴露的个体经历了创伤后成长 (PTG)，其特征是显着程度的个人力量、灵性、生活欣赏、对生活中新可能性的感知以及与他人的关系增强。一些研究人员认为，这些积极的反应可能是与应对创伤事件相关的一种幻觉。我们检查了与 PTG 清单 (PTGI) 子量表相关的轨迹模式，以利用基于组的轨迹模型阐明关于生活质量 (QoL) 的真实和虚幻增长的存在。在 6 个月内分发了三份在线问卷（N = 2,554；M年龄 = 47.04 岁，SD = 12.62），12 个月（N = 887；M年龄 = 48.11 岁，SD = 12.43）和 42 个月（N = 560；M年龄 = 48.86 岁，SD = 12.25）灾后。参与者对与人口特征、灾难经历、创伤后压力症状、PTG 和 QoL 相关的项目做出回应。出现了三个主要的 PTG 轨迹，其特征是增长、无增长和虚幻增长，其中 QoL 作为时间不变的协变量。与增长轨迹相比，无增长的优势比（OR s）介于 2.27 至 5.04 之间；对于虚幻的成长，ORs 的范围从 2.09 到 4.67。据我们所知，这是第一项报告与 PTGI 子量表相关的增长轨迹及其在 2011 年东北地震和海啸之后心理机制和过程的潜在差异的研究。