A confirmatory factor analytic study of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory among a sample of racially diverse college students

Aims: The primary aim of the study was to confirm the five-factor structure of Tedeschi and Calhoun’s (1996) Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). A secondary aim of this study was to explore the potential usefulness of the PTGI among populations that experience parentification – a common form of childhood neglect and adversity. Method: The PTGI was administered to a sample of 143 college students with a history of various levels of parentification. Results: The resulting data were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis. The goodness-of-fit indices for the five-factor model indicated a moderate fit with the current sample. However, a five-factor, 18item model produced a more optimal fit than Tedeschi and Calhoun’s five-factor, 21-item PTGI. Conclusions: The study’s findings suggest that the PTGI appears to be a useful assessment inventory for mental health practitioners in measuring globally the resources an individual might have following the adversity of parentification.