Findings from trauma research have indicated that college students report high rates of trauma exposure, yet they may also experience positive growth outcomes following traumatic events. Researchers also indicate that perceptions of social support resources may impact the capacity for posttraumatic growth in these young adults. Examining the factors that may foster these positive posttrauma outcomes is necessary to develop more interventions that promote posttraumatic growth for trauma-exposed individuals, especially young adults in college. As a result of this research, individuals may also better understand the importance of perceived social support following trauma. Therefore, the impact of perceived social support on posttrauma outcomes in college students was examined in this study. The goal of the present study was to investigate the possible mediating and/or moderating effects of perceived social support on the relationship between event stressfulness, core beliefs disruption, and posttraumatic growth. The study sample consisted of students from colleges and universities within the United States. A total of 212 participants were included in final statistical analyses because they endorsed an event stressfulness level of 4 or more, thus indicating a significant level of distress that could potentially contribute to posttraumatic growth (Groleau, Calhoun, Cann, & Tedeschi, 2013; Joseph, Murphy & Regel, 2012). Data for this study were collected between Summer and Fall 2015. Participants ranged from 18 to 25 years of age. Trauma, event stressfulness, core beliefs disruption, perceived social support, and posttraumatic growth were assessed using the Trauma History Questionnaire (Green, 1996), a one-item Event Stressfulness measure (Cann et al., 2010), the Core Beliefs Inventory (Cann et al., 2010), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988), and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996), respectively. A series of regression analyses, including one hierarchical regression analysis, were used to examine the research questions. Based on findings from this study, event stressfulness, core beliefs disruption, and perceived social support were good predictors of posttraumatic growth. Additionally, participants’ perceptions of social support resources moderated the relationship between event stressfulness, core beliefs disruption, and posttraumatic growth. Perceived social support was not found to be a mediator in this relationship. In addition, a bivariate correlation analysis was used to examine relationships among the variables. Results showed significant, positive associations among event stressfulness, core beliefs disruption, and posttraumatic growth. Posttraumatic growth was not significantly correlated with endorsement of trauma. Perceived social support was shown to have a significant, negative relationship with endorsement of trauma, but was not significantly positively correlated with any other variable. Discussion of the implications for these results is provided, as well as study limitations and directions for future research.
