Creativity and Posttraumatic Growth in Those Impacted by a Chronic Illness/Disability

For some individuals, a Chronic Illness/Disability (CID) diagnosis is analogous to a traumatic experience in that it challenges a person's sense of identity and feelings about justness or fairness. CID can also have a profound impact on families, affecting daily routines, life planning, and feelings about identity. Researchers have found that creativity contributes to aspects of resiliency and the ability to cope with such stress; however, there is little empirical research on creativity and experiences with CID. Thus, this study seeks to address this gap in the literature and explore the relationships between creativity, traumatic symptoms, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) related to CID (N = 197). Results reveal that individuals impacted by CID have greater trauma symptoms and PTG experiences and that creativity served as a significant predictor to both of these outcomes (i.e., trauma and PTG).