The study conducted by our department’s academics, Assoc. Prof. Tuğba Yılmaz and Res. Asst. Merve Nur Çömlekci, together with students from our Clinical Psychology Master's Program, has been published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
Traumatic experiences can challenge individuals' fundamental belief systems, leading to negative changes in their perceptions of themselves, others, and the world. This study aims to examine post-traumatic depreciation (PTD) and post-traumatic growth (PTG), as well as the psychological factors associated with these outcomes, among women who have experienced physical intimate partner violence. The study was conducted with 72 women aged 19 to 63, recruited through purposive sampling. The findings revealed that psychological resilience had a strong protective effect against PTD, while shattered core beliefs were a significant risk factor predicting PTD. Contrary to expectations, neither shattered core beliefs nor psychological resilience was significantly associated with PTG. Overall, these findings suggest that in the context of chronic and interpersonal trauma, the disruption of fundamental belief systems does not automatically lead to PTG. Rather, if these disrupted beliefs remain unresolved, they may contribute to PTD. The results highlight that focusing solely on PTG may not be sufficient in clinical interventions for survivors of intimate partner violence. Instead, interventions aimed at strengthening psychological resilience and reconstructing shattered core beliefs may play a critical role in preventing PTD.
Click here to access the article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08862605261486842
