Growth and Hope after loss: How TAPS facilitates posttraumatic growth in those grieving military deaths

Melinda Moore; Jerry K Palmer; Julie Cerel; Kim Ruocco

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.996041

Growth and Hope after loss: How TAPS facilitates posttraumatic growth in those grieving military deaths

Front Psychol. 2022 Dec 7:13:996041. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.996041. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Melinda Moore¹, Jerry K Palmer¹, Julie Cerel², Kim Ruocco³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY, United States.
² College of Social Work, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, United States.
³ Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), Washington, DC, United States.

Abstract

We examined posttraumatic growth for 691 participants of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). Peer mentors of bereaved individuals experienced greater posttraumatic growth (PTG) and reported higher psychological health than those who were non-peer mentors. Active involvement in TAPS and resilience consistently and positively predicted all types of PTG. These prediction models were far stronger (R², AIC) for the suicide-bereaved sample than those bereaved by other causes, and post-hoc analyses suggest suicide-bereaved benefitted more than those bereaved by other causes from active participation in TAPS.

Keywords: military; military families; peer mentor; peer support; suicide; suicide bereavement.