Post-Traumatic Growth:A Call for Less, but Better, Research

We describe a multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) approach to studying the construct validity of self-report measures of post-traumatic growth (PTG). The proposed MTMM reveals three important points. First, most cells representing anything other than retrospective self-reports are empty. Behavioural studies are particularly lacking. Second, retrospective and prospective reports of PTG do not converge. Third, retrospective reports of PTG are more related to coping than to prospectively assessed PTG. We call for less research that measures PTG retrospectively and more research that takes seriously this lack of evidence of construct validity. Copyright (C) 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology