An Examination of Posttraumatic Stress and Posttraumatic Growth and the Role of Psychological Flexibility Following Traumatic Job Loss

ABSTRACT Job loss can lead to both posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms and positive outcomes of posttraumatic growth (PTG), making it necessary for career counselors to understand trauma reactions. Among a community sample of 270 adults who reported experiencing a traumatic job loss, results of this cross‐sectional study indicated presence of both PTS ( M = 35.9) and PTG ( M = 57.2), and a statistically significant and positive relationship between PTS and PTG with a medium effect size ( r = 0.33, p < 0.001). Structural equation model results demonstrated that the valued action component of psychological flexibility mediated the relationship between behavioral awareness and openness to experience and PTG, suggesting that values‐based action, similar to Brown's values‐based career theory, may be a critical component of PTG following traumatic job loss. It is crucial for career counselors to understand both negative and positive trauma responses to job loss and ways to help job loss survivors thrive.