Post-traumatic symptoms and posttraumatic growth in higher education students in Chile during the COVID-19 pandemicAbstract
Objective. To evaluate a predictive model of posttraumatic symptomatology (PTS) and posttraumatic growth (PTC), which included psychological, pandemic-related, and online classroom-related variables, in higher education students during the pandemic. Method. A total of 552 students participated, 68.5% of whom were women. Instruments were applied to measure different psychological variables. Results. It was established that a model that included intrusive and deliberate rumination, subjective severity, emotional suppression, cognitive reappraisal, social support, adequate space to connect to online classes, and educational attainment significantly predicted PTS. Deliberate rumination, social support, cognitive reappraisal, and age predicted CPT. The relevance of these findings to the academic support that could be provided to students is discussed.
Keywords Post-traumatic stress; post-traumatic symptomatology; posttraumatic growth; COVID-19 pandemic; college student