Paths to well-Being: Trauma, rumination, creativity, and growth

A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was used to investigate the parallel-serial mediating roles of deliberate and intrusive rumination and cognitive and emotional creativity in the relationship between trauma history and posttraumatic growth among young adults. Specifically, the direct and indirect pathways through which individuals with a history of trauma can experience positive changes were investigated. Five-hundred and eleven emerging adults were recruited through crowdsourcing. Structural equation modeling was utilized to assess the measurement portion of the model, the relationship among latent variables and indicators, the relationship among latent variables, and model fit as evidence of mediation. A method of bootstrapping was also implemented to assess indirect effects. The results indicated deliberate rumination, and cognitive creativity sequentially mediated the relationship between trauma history and posttraumatic growth. Findings of the study also revealed both deliberate and intrusive rumination mediated the relationship between trauma history and emotional creativity. However, the relationship between emotional creativity and posttraumatic growth was not statistically significant. Overall, the findings elucidate the dynamic interplay between trauma, rumination, creativity, and growth. By distinguishing between the roles of different rumination styles and types of creativity, this study contributes to the broader literature on posttraumatic growth and offers practical implications for interventions aimed at promoting recovery and growth.