When acute adversity improves psychological health: A social–contextual framework.

(PGA) and define it as favorable and reliable change on an index of psychological functioning from before to after exposure to adversity. In the present article, first I distinguish PGA from traditional perspectives on growth after adversity on the basis of key conceptual differences. I then review empirical evidence for PGA as a replicable response pattern following different forms of adversity, including bereavement, military deployment, and mass trauma. I propose a multilevel theoretical model for PGA that focuses on automatic prosocial affiliative behaviors and group-level contextual factors that are conditioned by acute adversity. I describe moderators and boundary conditions at different levels of analysis that will enhance or detract from the likelihood of PGA. I conclude with the implications of PGA for theory and empirical research on postadversity outcomes and outline a research agenda to better understand it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).