Core beliefs, ruminations, and posttraumatic growth in suicide-bereaved and attempt-exposed university students

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the role of core belief disruption, intrusive rumination, and deliberate rumination in posttraumatic growth (PTG) among suicide-loss survivors and individuals who were exposed to a suicide attempt by a parent, sibling, romantic partner, relative, or friend. Participants were university students studying in Ayd & imath

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138 were suicide-loss survivors (68 women

M = 20.8, SD = 2.1) and 198 were exposed to a suicide attempt (128 women

M = 21.05, SD = 2.2). Data were collected using the Core Beliefs Inventory, the Event-Related Rumination Inventory, and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. The findings indicated that core belief disruption and deliberate rumination were positively associated with PTG in both groups. In contrast, intrusive rumination was negatively associated with PTG among suicide-loss survivors but was not significantly associated with PTG among attempt-exposed individuals. Mediation analyses showed that both intrusive and deliberate rumination mediated the relationship between core belief disruption and PTG among suicide-loss survivors. However, among individuals exposed to a suicide attempt, only deliberate rumination functioned as a mediator. These findings suggest that intrusive and deliberate rumination may be differentially associated with PTG and that the pattern of associations may differ between suicide-loss survivors and individuals exposed to a suicide attempt involving a parent, sibling, romantic partner, relative, or friend. Overall, the results indicate the relevance of targeting ruminative processes in clinical interventions aimed at meaning reconstruction and suggest the need for longitudinal research to clarify the temporal dynamics of rumination and core belief disruption.